Killed to be Born
by saphiredmoon
Summary: In the blink of an eye, Rad's life takes a detour leading him into a questionable position. One that is small and will cause more trouble then the Autobots need in the war for the minicons. Armada setting.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own anything from Transformers Armada, which really sucks.

Chapter 1

The dry air in Nevada was enough to make anyone wheeze and cough. The little town next to the technology center on the small mountain was lazily going through another day. Summer vacation had started a week ago and school wouldn't start until 2 and half months later. Rad had just woken up from his deep sleep. It was 11:27 am. He hadn't slept in this late since he had to stay and clean up after a party his parents had during Christmas vacation. He let out a loud yawn. 'Time to get up self. Need to go meet the Autobots today.' Rad slowly got out of bed. He felt weak all over thanks to a condition he had. Rad couldn't think to call the condition a virus or illness. Since when did something make you feel weak and get you maroon colored bruises all over your body? He quickly sighed and started to walk towards the bathroom for a nice lukewarm shower.

As soon as he got out he sat at the table with his parents and decided to eat a bowl of cereal before heading out. "Morning, Rad. It's about time that you got up." His mom said from behind the refrigerator giving Rad the milk. "Sorry mom. I've just been really tired lately."

"Tired?" was his dad's reply while he was reading the newspaper. "Its summer vacation now, how can you be tired?"

"I don't know dad. I just am. Well, I'll be with Carlos and Alexis all day today."

"Ok Rad. Come home before 9 o'clock ok?" His mom called out after him as he headed out the door. He grabbed his bike and started riding over to Carlos's house.

Carlos was already out the door when Rad stopped in front of his yard. "Hey, Rad! You ready to get going?"

"You bet Carlos! Come on, I'll race you there!"

"You're going down dude!"

They started to race down the roads and sidewalks until they came to the secret door opening into the Autobot base. "Ah man! I lost!"

"Don't worry Rad; I'm sure you'll beat me someday…" Carlos stated rubbing off his victory on his best friend.

They both laughed down the long hallways, towards the command center of the base. The doors opened and Optimus was talking to Scavenger when he noticed the two boys come in. "Hello, Rad, Carlos."

"What's up Optimus?" said Carlos making his way down to the 2 bots. "Nothing much Carlos. The minicons seem to be a little restless right now and we're trying to figure out why." Optimus responded. "Maybe you two could find out more. Are you willing to try?"

"No problemo Optimus! Rad and I will go check things out."

Rad started towards another door leading to the minicons with Carlos following close behind.

"Do you think they'll find out Optimus?" Scavenger asked. "Remember Scavenger, the kid's have a greater bond to the minicons then we do. They trust them." Optimus replied to him. It was the only reply given back before Optimus decided to check on Red Alert who was working in one of the engine rooms.

""Hey guys." Rad said when he entered the room where most of the minicons were.Highwire quickly came up to Rad and greeted him. All the rest of the minicons looked tense. Rad could sense it.

"Hey, Highwire. Are all you guys ok?" Highwire answered back with a series of low and sad clicks.He grabbed his hand and started to pull him with the rest of the other minicons. Shershock went over to Carlos and pulled him out.

"I think they want to talk only to you man." Carlos said before being tugged out of the room by his minicon partner.Rad followed Highwire until he stopped him. He pulled out his shirt to reveal the maroon bruises around his abdomen. The other minicons started to move in towards him.

"Highwire, what are you doing?" Highwire and some other minicons answered him.Highwire looked sadly at Rad.

"Rad…" he said speaking English, "You don't have much time to live." Rad was shocked.

Highwire hardly ever used that voice, only when it was something important, and then after that he realized what Highwire had meant. The thing that was causing him to get weak and giving him these bruises was killing him. Rad fell down to his knees trying to grasp the full meaning of what was happening. After a few minutes, with tears in his eyes Rad spoke.

"Highwire. What's been happening to me? What am I going to tell the others? How long do I have?" All these questions hurt Rad to ask, but since he was going to die, he might as well know what exactly was going on.

"The Virus is killing you Rad. You don't have much time." Rad let out a faint sob. He wasn't even out of high school and he was going to die. But the sudden pain that came from his abdomen made him shut up and he began to cough. Highwire told the other minicons to go the Autobots quickly. The blood that was leaking out of Rad's mouth was the beginning of his death. Rad only had a handful of minutes left.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Chapter 2 ready!!!

Thanks for all the reviews!!!!

Chapter 2

Sparkplug was leading the other minicons down the hallway. They had to go get someone to help Rad. Anyone would do. Jolt went ahead of the group and signaled them to go to the right. He had spotted Hotshot going into the room with Red Alert. Jolt transformed and practically hit Hotshot on the head because he was going so fast.

"Jolt, are you okay?" Hotshot was curious to why Jolt was in such a frenzy. Jolt transformed again and started to wave his hands up and down. He transformed and went to Red Alert hoping to get a better reaction.

The rest of the minicons burst through the doorway and went crazy at the feet of the 2 Autobots. The minicons started to frantically pull at their feet. They pointed towards the doorway and stated to run out. Luckily, Hotshot and Red Alert both got the message and started to follow them.

'_What's wrong with them?' _Hotshot thought. _'Why did they seem so desperate? Does this have something to do with the fact that they were all tense earlier?' _

Just then a com link signaled from Red Alert to Hotshot.

_: Hotshot, do you have any idea of what's going on:_

_: Not a clue Red Alert. But they look kinda desperate right now. :_

_: I hope it isn't something serious. :_

_: What else could it be then? The minicons have never acted like this before! It has to be something important:_

They cut off because the minicons went into their room. They all quickly went together and formed a circle around something on the floor. Hotshot moved forward to see what they were looking at. What he saw though shocked him. Rad was on the floor bleeding. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind and he kept coughing up blood. He looked up slowly at Hotshot and then went into a fit of coughs. A quick analysis and Hotshot gathered that his body was decomposing at an alarming rate. Red Alert quickly appeared next to Hotshot.

"Hotshot we have to get Rad to the med bay now!" Hotshot looked back and went down to get Rad off the floor. He didn't want to hurt him anymore then he already was. It took him a while to finally get a hold of Rad without causing too much pain. Rad yelped as Hotshot finally got him into his palm. There was no time to lose. Red Alert and Hotshot both ran down the hallways to the med bay. They didn't say anything to each other.

**In the med bay**

_: Optimus:_ Red Alert was trying to get a hold of Optimus. He was in the med bay with Rad on a piece of cloth in the middle of the medical table.

_: What's wrong Red Alert?:_

_: Rad's in trouble Optimus! He's not going to make it. :_

_: What's wrong with him?:_

_: I'll explain later, give me permission to help him sir. :_

_: Permission granted. Do everything you can Red Alert. :_

_: I will. :_

Red Alert cut off quickly and started to work on Rad.

-------

It had been a few hours since Rad had been in the med bay. Word had gotten out pretty fast that Rad was in a dire situation. Optimus went to the minicons hoping that they would tell him and the rest of the team what was going on. But all he got was a single word from Highwire: "Virus." All that there was left to do was wait. Carlos, Alexis, and the others waited nervously outside the bay. The minicons also looked pretty nervous.

Inside Red Alert had just finished the operation with Rad. Optimus said to do everything he could to save Rad. And he did. He just wasn't sure how they were going to take in Rad's new form. '_Well, time to talk with Optimus.' _He looked towards the sleeping bundle that was now Rad. _ 'I hope he gets used to his new body soon though.' _

Red Alert opened the door slowly, receiving the glances of everyone in the room.

"You guys still can't visit Rad right now. He's sleeping. I do need to talk to Optimus about something though." Everyone looked relieved. Soon Rad was going to be out and he'd be okay.

"Optimus, can you please come inside with me?" Red Alert gestured for him to come in.

"Of course Red Alert." Optimus came in and started to go look for Rad, but Red Alert stopped him.

"Sir, I have to explain what happened." Optimus looked at him and nodded.

"You see, Rad's body was decomposing at a fast rate due to a virus he conceived. I believe he caught the virus when he was being squished by Megatron's hand. His energy must have sent out something to Rad. The virus also did a vast amount of damage to Rad's body, and it was beyond repair. But the virus had a good side effect despite this. It made Rad a spark, very similar to that of ours, so I did the only thing I could think of to save him. I gave him a new body. He looks like a baby sparkling and he'll grow just like a normal one too. I just hope he's okay with it."

Optimus took in all the information Red Alert had given him slowly. He did after all say to do everything possible to save Rad. Rad was alive at least. That was all he was hoping for.

"Can I see him?" Optimus asked Red Alert.

"In a while Optimus, I don't want to wake him up." Red Alert said and went back to check up on Rad.

Optimus went outside only to get bombarded by the kids' questions to what was going to happen to Rad. Optimus slowly exhaled and looked own at them.

"Rad's alive thanks to Red Alert, but he couldn't save his body. Rad isn't a human anymore. He's Cybertronian now." Optimus said quietly to the kids.

"What do you mean he's Cybertronian?" Smokescreen asked. This was going to take a while for Optimus to explain to them.


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, I have finally gotten enough time to do this chapter!!!

XD

Thanks for all the nice reviews!!!

Chapter3

**(Rad's Point of View)**

'_Uh…the light hurts…'_ I opened my eyes and saw the ceiling of what looked like the med bay. _'How long was I out? Am I still bleeding? I don't feel weird or sick soooo…that must mean they cured me! Woohoo! This is great! I gotta go find the others and tell them that I'm ok, then I have to go home…who knows how long I've been here! Mom will be pissed!!!'_

I tried to move, but I couldn't. A soft material was rubbing my face as I tried to move upward. I was bundled in a blanket. _'Why did they tuck me in too tight?'_ The more I struggled the more the blanket loosened. But when I finally got it off me, I lost my train of thought. I screamed.

**(No one's point of view)**

Red Alert was sleeping when he heard Rad's quivering scream. He quickly got up and ran over to where Rad was. He was crying and trying to stand upright at the same time in the little booth that he was put in. Red Alert quickly grabbed Rad from falling over and re-bundled him in the soft blanket.

"Be careful Rad, you could have fallen over!"

Rad tried to talk back at him and ask him all the questions that had surfaced his head since he saw what had happened to him but all that came out was some small chirps and hiccups.

"Your vocal processors aren't fully grown yet so you can't speak." Red Alert looked sadly back at Rad, who was trembling and looked like he was going to throw a confused fit. "I'm sorry Rad, but this was the only way to save you."

Rad started to cry again. He hoisted him up higher so that Rad could lie on his chest and he started to rub his back.

"Forgive me Rad. I didn't mean to make you lose your life here on Earth, but I didn't want you to die. Please stop crying Rad…"

Rad looked up at Red Alert, his cheeks still wet, and he quivered. Red Alert grabbed a corner of the blanket and wiped Rad's face. He moved the blanket so that it would go past Rad's head and went back to where he was sleeping. He sat down and held Rad in a comfortable position so that he could sleep. Rad started to whimper again as he was being set into the position.

"Shhh… you still aren't used to having this body. It's better if you rest." Red Alert started to hum shortly after hoping to ease Rad so that he could sleep.

Despite Red Alert's advice, Rad started to panic again.

_'What's going to happen to me? What about school? Mom and Dad? What will happen when the Autobots finally have to leave? Why is Red Alert humming? I feel… sleepy, I shouldn't feel sleepy, this is supposed to be the most horrible day of my life…why ……am I ………zzz…'_

Red Alert watched as Rad finally fell asleep. Tomorrow was going to be the first day of Rad's new life.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! It's been a while since I've seen some episodes from Transformers Armada, so I might get some things wrong. I might also be doing another fic on a minicon, OC of course. If you guys have any ideas for this story go ahead and put it in your reviews. I'm surprised all you guys like it. Oh, and I checked the internet for some background on some details and Red Alert's name is two words. My bad.

Well, here's Rad's first day.

Chapter 4

Rad was having a hard time sleeping. He couldn't quite get into a comfortable position. Fidgeting around wasn't helping much so he decided to wake up. Instead of opening his eyes, he found that his mind started to make his body go through a 'startup'. His head was calculating. It was as if he had his own computer screen in there. There was a whole bunch of calculations on things he didn't even know existed. He'd have to ask Red Alert about all the percentages and the strange noises he could now hear from his new body.

'_Oh right, I can't talk yet. I probably can't even walk down the hall anymore!'_ Rad was going through all the negative things that his life now had. It was enough to make him want to break down and cry in a corner, rip something to shreds, or do something criminal.

His eyes finally flashed online. He started to look around the room, it smelled like the rest of the Autobot base, but it was a bit huskier. According to the mini computer screen in his head the temperature of the room was about 85 degrees. He did feel kinda toasty considering that he was now made of metal.

'_How does that work out?' _

Yet another question he'd like to ask to Red Alert about his new body. He suddenly felt a sharp pang go through his stomach. He was hungry.

'_How am I going to eat? Do I have to eat gasoline like a car?'_

Sudden movement underneath him stopped his brief thinking as he looked up to stare at Red Alert who was now waking up. Red Alert softly touched Rad's head. It had been a long time since he'd have to care for a sparkling. He could just imagine his first taste of energon. He looked down and noticed that Rad was awake and staring at him with his now baby blue optics. He heard a small rumble escape Rad's tank as Rad flinched from the hunger pain.

"Are you ready for your first taste of energon?" He chuckled.

Red Alert stood up and placed Rad back on the recharge berth. He went to one of the cupboards on the opposite side of the berth and took out a bottle and a can. Before going through the portal to Earth, he had brought some supplies with him. He quickly grabbed whatever he could get a hold of in the medical bay on Cybertron, some of the items he didn't think he'd ever need or even touch, ended up coming with him. It was pretty lucky too.

He left the can and the bottle on a counter nearby and went back to the cupboard to grab some energon. He poured the energon into the bottle along with some formula from the can. The two ingredients started to fizzle then die out. He quickly gave the bottle another shake before going back to Rad.

Rad stared at Red Alert throughout the whole process. When he saw the bottle he knew exactly what Red Alert was going to do. He was going to feed him using the bottle. Just like a baby. Rad stared at him in shock; he was going to have to endure a huge embarrassment of being bottle fed. Things couldn't get any worse.

Red Alert picked up Rad and held the bottle in front of his mouth. Rad looked at the bottle, glanced back at Red Alert and looked back at the bottle again. Red Alert sighed and started to tickle Rad on his side. The feeling of being tickled in his new body over whelmed Rad and he started to giggle which gave Red Alert the chance to put the bottle into his mouth and squeeze it to let some of the formulated energon out of the bottle.

'_This is the worst thing I've ever tasted! It's all salty, creamy, and metallic at the same time!' _

Rad tried desperately to move the bottle out of his mouth, but Red Alert held a firm grip and squeezed the bottle a little more. Rad gave out a small cough as some of the energon came out of his mouth and down his chin. His mouth was now filled to the brim with energon and he had to swallow. He started to slowly swallow the energon distastefully and glanced back at Red Alert with newly formed tears of energon coming from his optics. Red alert gave a nervous chuckle but continued pushing Rad to drink more energon.

Rad gave a small sigh of relief as he finished the last of the energon. He gave a couple of hiccups and clicks after Red Alert took the bottle away. Red Alert also took a piece of the blanket and started to wipe away some of the remaining energon on Rad's face. Having his tank full Rad started to fall in stasis.

Red Alert opened the door to his room and left. He walked straight towards the Command center with a sleeping Rad in his arms. The second he entered the room, the other Autobots quickly crowded around him to see the new sparkling that Rad had become.

"Primus! He's tiny Red Alert!" Jetfire said quickly after seeing him. The others shushed him before he could wake Rad up.

"What are we going to name him? I mean he has to have a Cybertronian name." Sideswipe asked as he moved his finger on Rad's small hands making them reflex and grab his finger. The little stunt just about made Sideswipe's knees bend.

Small clicks could be heard next to them on the floor as the minicons moved around their feet hoping to get a better view of Rad. Optimus bent down and lowered his hand so that the minicons could get on. As he moved them up close to Rad they clicked and squeaked curiously. Rad moved and clicked quietly in his stasis until the minicons stopped talking amongst themselves.

"I hope he doesn't yell when he wakes up." Blurr said after watching Rad move.

The rest of the Autobots gave a small shiver.

------------

I love writing scenes like the one Red Alert and Rad had. Gosh, I'm so paternal.

oh, and the reason that there are normal human words instead of mech ones (eyes aka optics etc) in the beginning is because it was in Rad's point of view at that time and he doesn't know that stuff yet. Thanks for reading so far:)


	5. Chapter 5

Hi! I loved all the nice comments I got for the last chapter!

I have finals coming up so I have to study. Cursed finals!!!!

Oh and **bold** is for when Rad is clicking/talking and when there is a change in the settings.

Chapter 5

Rad woke up in a small basket made for him. He was still wrapped in some warm blankets and he even had a small pillow.

'_Where am I now?'_

Rad decided to dismiss the idea and go back to sleep. He was so warm and comfortable! But before he could go back into stasis, he heard a large 'CLONK' from somewhere in the room that he was in. Curiosity finally getting to him, he moved and looked up. It appeared that he was in the engine room with Red Alert. He seemed to have accidentally dropped a large wrench while he was trying to connect something in one of the generators. He quietly let himself out of the basket, holding to the side since he could feel the wobbles coming from his legs. He decided to go for the next best thing, crawling. Despite his best effort in trying to be quiet and not disturbing Red Alert, he heard his new armor clink as he got on the floor. Before he knew it, Red Alert stopped what he was doing and picked Rad from the ground.

"Good morning Rad. The kids have wanted to meet you all day. You'll be alright without me I presume?" Red Alert looked down at him as he tried to move around to find a comfortable position in his arms. Rad looked back up and gave a quick nod and a small chirp escaped his vocal processor.

Red Alert walked down the hall to where the kids were supposed to be waiting for Rad to wake up. As he walked in all four of them immediately ran straight towards Red Alert trying to see Rad. He put Rad slowly on the floor as he watched the expressions on the kids' faces. He decided to let them talk to each other for a while. Carlos ran up to Rad first. He came up short as he got a little closer to him.

"How's it feel to be an Autobot now, buddy?"

Rad looked at Carlos. Despite now being a robot, he wasn't too tall for his friends. Carlos had on a smile, but his tone made Rad anxious.

'_Carlos, you can't hide the fact that you're sad in front of me. I know you better then that buddy.'_

Rad could see it on all their faces. Alexis, Carlos, Fred and Billy were happy that he was alive, but they were sad that he couldn't be with them. He wouldn't have a large part in their lives as he had before. They couldn't hang out in town anymore, no more racing against each other, no more detentions at school, and he'd eventually have to leave when the Autobots did. He wouldn't be able to be there, much less see how the lives of his friends would turn out as he became practically immortal compared to their lifespan. Rad was suddenly filled with intense sadness all over again. The energon tears started to leak from his optics. How he was going to miss being human.

**click squeak chirp chirrrp**

"What's wrong Rad?"

Billy asked as he started toward him. He looked up at him as Rad stared back with blurry optics. He had his backpack on and there was still some chocolate left over from his last snack. He grabbed his backpack and opened it, putting on the floor various snacks from chocolate to cookies and brownies. He even brought some fruit punch.

"You know, whenever I'm sad I eat some of my snacks. They kinda make me feel better. Maybe they'll do the same for you."

Fred instantly made a comeback to Billy's statement.

"He's a robot now Billy. I don't think he can even eat chocolate brownies anymore!"

Rad paused for a second. _'Can I eat normal food? I don't think it can do much harm if I eat it. My new stomach probably has stronger acids then when I was still human…'_

He started to wander off his thought as he started to remember all his favorite foods. Would they be able to get him some mashed potatoes and turkey any time soon?

"Hello? Rad your staring into the wall, are you ok?" Alexis asked waving her hand in front of his face. Her face looked the least sad out of all of them, but he knew that it was all a facade. He knew that she was the saddest of them all. She just had too much pride to show it.

**chirp chirp**

He quickly gave Alexis a little squeeze hoping that he wasn't too strong that he'd hurt her. She returned him the hug, but not without some sniffles coming out of her. This seemed to ease his friends' minds a bit. He was still, someway, the same old Rad.

"So, you wanna hang out Rad?" Carlos smiled back, now more relaxed and flowing. Rad clicked excitedly and nodded his head.

"But how are we going to get him out of the base?" Fred asked.

"We're just going to ask for some help is all." Alexis said smugly. She ran out to another hallway. Soon she came back with Highwire, Shershock, and Grindor ready to help. Highwire ran over to Rad and quickly said a series of happy chirps and squeaks on Rad's recovery. Rad gave Highwire a large hug. It almost felt like he was hugging a toy.

"Ok, are we ready to rumble!?" Carlos bellowed out, pretending he was speaking into a microphone.

The minicons carefully lifted Rad and went to the exit of the base. As soon as they were out, Rad breathed the summer air. He had been in the base for a while and he believed it was starting to dull his senses. But his senses proved him wrong. He had never before smelled the air like this before. It smelled vital and spicy. All of his senses were on the edge as they went farther. He could see insects and details on plants that he would have never noticed before. When he was brushed against some plants he could feel their texture, their crevices. Being a robot had brought him a whole new side of the outside world that his old senses couldn't detect. They started to walk slower as they got nearer to Billy's house. Billy's house was the closest one to the Autobot base and it was also on the outskirts of town so people wouldn't be able to see them with three minicons and a 'sparkling' as Red Alert put it.

Billy quickly opened the garage door that was behind his house so that the minicons could put Rad in. They gently put Rad on a blanket that Billy had put there. Billy also went back into the kitchen of his house and brought back even more snacks and food then he had in his backpack. As soon as everyone was settled, they started to watch movies on the T.V. They were all watching _The Chain Saw Massacre_ when Rad had involuntarily started to eat the food out of habit. Grabbing the nearest thing to him, which was popcorn, he ate rapidly as the movie progressed and scared the crap out of all of them. It always had no matter how many times they watched it. As soon as he finished the popcorn, he grabbed a bottle of fruit punch and started to slurp away. As the movie finished there was trash, wrappers, and empty bottles and soda cans all over the garage floor. But before they could begin to clean up they heard someone calling their names.

Billy and Alexis were the firsts to check outside the garage through a second door on the side. Outside standing was Rad's mother. Her hair was messy and dull, her eyes were red from all the crying, and her voice was raspy as she talked to herself. She started to walk towards them as they came from out of the door. Soon after Billy and Alexis came out Fred and Carlos followed.

"So…how are you guys?" Rad's mom asked quietly.

"You should really get some rest." Fred said after giving her a look over and not liking the condition she was in right now.

"I know, but I have to do something. Taking a walk seemed like a good thing to do. Are you sure you guys don't know where Rad is?"

She looked back at them, daring herself for some kind of hope that they could give her. Rad started to shiver uncontrollably as he heard his mother talk. She was in distress, she was feeling hopeless, and she was suffering. He wanted to run towards her and cry in her arms. He wanted to comfort her and tell her that he wouldn't go and that he was ok. But he couldn't. He couldn't risk the revealing the Autobots, so he just tried to keep as quiet as possible and listen in on their conversation with the minicons standing next to him, trying to make him feel better. Carlos was the next one to speak to her.

"I wouldn't worry too much."

"Why?"

"Rad isn't hurt and he's not on trouble. He's in good hands, we can feel it. He still loves you guys a lot. Do you trust us, in knowing that we feel with all our hearts that he's safe?"

She looked up at them blankly, trying to take in all he had said to her.

"You guys truly believe that he's okay?"

"Yeah, a hundred percent sure. Just have some hope and trust in him ok?"

She looked at all of them. She seemed to have turned years younger at Carlos's response to her. Her response was a small smile and she gave a hiccupped laugh.

"Yeah, I guess you guys are right. He is ok. No matter what happens or what happened, he can always come back to us. You guys tell him that ok?"

They all stiffened as she told them that. Did she know? Rad's mom gave out another small laugh.

"I'm not going to ask. I trust in what you say Carlos. I have faith in Rad and what he's doing right now."

With that she walked away, her strides a little peppier and more energetic. The kids stared back at her in disbelief. They quickly went back to the garage just as she got out of view. When they saw Rad he was crying, but he had a big smile on his face.

After the whole ordeal, the minicons carried Rad all the way back into the base. They had just barely gotten in when they heard all the Autobots in an uproar.

"Where in Pit's name are they?!!!" Smokescreen yelled as he trampled to the next room.

"Slag, if we don't find him soon, he could get into problems. He's not even a week old for Primus's sake!!!" Hotshot ran into another corridor almost running into Jetfire.

"How could he end up getting fragging lost?! He can't even glitching walk!" Jetfire ran into another corridor that flanked the one Hotshot had just been through.

The kids just stared in unison as the paranoid Autobots searched the base for Rad.

**CLICK?**

Smokescreen, Hotshot, and Jetfire stood still and all at once stared at where the click had come from. Rad clicked again.

"….Frag, Red Alert is going to blow a fuse…" Hotshot said then got a quick slap on the mouth.

**CLICK CLICK CLICK? Squeak chirp squeaaaak?**

"We're scrap." Jetfire noted getting a few nods from his comrades.

**If there are any mistakes, tell me in the reviews. They will all be loved and enjoyed making my pitiful time studying better!**

**And I got some ideas from some other Fanfics out there. One being 'Youngling' by Karategal. (Hence the clicking!) I loved that fic! If you havn't read it you should!**


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, so this chapter is dedicated to Cera Lennox the Insane for the idea of Blurr sparkling sit Rad. And to make it worse for Blurr, Rad ends up getting sick!

Despite that I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter too! XD

Chapter 6

"Your telling me that you guys couldn't keep your mouths shut?! He's not even a week old in that body and he already knows curse words! And after all that time we were doing so well in not using them…"

Red Alert was pacing around the command center mumbling to himself and every once in a while sending glares over to his comrades. How could they be so irresponsible? Not only was Rad questioning what they were saying, the kids heard them too! This day couldn't get any worse.

Sideswipe was getting nervous. He had never before seen Red Alert in such distress and anger. Jetfire, Smokescreen, and Hot Shot just gave guilty smiles every time Red Alert gave them a look of pure disappointment. Blurr on the other hand just stared at the confrontation, purring at the amusement. Red Alert instantly gave his full attention to Blurr who quickly flinched and started to regret purring.

Meanwhile Carlos pressed his head to the side of the door that opened to the command center. He and the others tried to follow the mechs while asking them about the strange words they had said earlier. To their surprise Red Alert sounded a bit pissed and told the kids to wait out of the room with Rad. But this lead them to be even more curious of the words they had spoken.

"What do you think they said Fred?" Billy asked after receiving a shake from Carlos's head that he couldn't hear what they were talking about.

"I don't know. It sounded like they were cursing. Do they even have curse words where they come from?" Fred asked questioningly.

They all quieted down thinking of the possible answer to the question.

"I guess it's possible. I mean we have curse words in our cultures, so they must have words that define how horrible life can be sometimes as well too. What do you think Rad?" Alexis turned around to look at Rad.

Rad was barely listening. He was giving out small garbled chirps of distress while putting his small grey hands over his lower abdomen. His frame had started to shake visibly and some tears where starting to form in his optics.

"Rad, what's wrong?!" Carlos ran in front of Rad and put his hands on top of his. Rad jerked away the second they touched but allowed him to touch them when he realized that it wasn't going to make his condition any worse.

"He doesn't look too good, we have to get Red Alert to check him." Alexis stared at Rad before pounding on the door.

Red Alert was giving Blurr a piece of his CPU for even thinking that the whole ordeal of losing Rad was 'amusing'. Incinerator could only stare as his partner tried to avert the angry medic, while the other mechs tried to make a break for it, noticing that Red Alert's attention was else where now. Longarm was beside him and was also watching with amusement in his optics. As the other mechs inched to the side, Longarm slanted forward and watched them eagerly. He seemed to know exactly what was going to happen next. The second Jetfire and the others were at least inches from getting out of the room, Red Alert surprised them by grabbing hold of Smokescreen's head and saying in a deep voice:

"Where do you think you're going?"

"…Nowhere?" Smokescreen replied keeping as still as possible.

"Good, because I'm not finished talking with you guys yet."

At that point they gave up. There was no escape for them now; they might as well go through Red Alert's complete speech of how they were irresponsible. This was going to take a while.

The minicons just watched sympathetically as their partners all sulked. Optimus had also been watching for a while, but he soon left. An angry medic was no one to get involved with. Incinerator was the one closest to the door, and also the first one to hear the desperate poundings from the other side. He opened the door and stared right at the kids. It wasn't until he looked at Rad that he figured out why their poundings on the door were so desperate. He yelped and moved the kids to the side to get to Rad who had bent over and was now lying on the floor. His trembling was much more apparent and his chirps were getting shakier. Incinerator just about lost a gasket as he ran back into the room and smashed into Red Alert's leg. Blurr was baffled at Incinerator's quick display of energy. The minicon was usually so controlled and well tempered!

"Red Alert! Rad is in trouble!" Alexis screamed and was bursting with tears.

Red Alert instantly ran over to Rad. The second he tried to move his body, Rad shrieked in pain.

"**Eaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!**"

Red Alert recomposed himself and started to softly stroke Rad's small head as he cooed for him to calm down.

"Shhh baby, hush. It's ok." Rad Alert cooed and slowly moved Rad so that he could carry him.

Everyone that wasn't already in the room had run to the room to check out what the scream had been about. They had all been confused when they walked in, not seeing anybody being ripped to shreds or dieing a horrible death. But the small chopped up chirps gave them a hint and they all huddled around Red Alert who was trying to soothe Rad from shrieking again.

"Is he doing okay Red Alert?" Scavenger asked trying to stroke Rad's head but retracted when he felt the high temperature he was radiating. "Red Alert, I believe that Rad is sick. He shouldn't feel this hot."

Red Alert touched Rad's forehead and looked back at the kids who were extremely fidgety, wanting to know how Rad was.

"Kids, do you know if Rad had eaten anything…he's not suited for right now?"

"Well, we did watch a movie over at Billy's house…he could have eaten some snack food without thinking about it. I mean it's almost natural to eat when you're watching a movie." Carlos said looking back at Red Alert thoughtfully.

"He ate organic food?! Primus almighty! It could mess up his entire system at this early age!"

"He's all messed up inside!!?" Fred yelled as the others heart rates increased.

The other mechs instantly noticed this and took the kids away from Rad as Red Alert moved away to the med bay trying to make sure that Rad wasn't getting any more pain then he needed.

"Is Red Alert okay Optimus? He looks a little high strung right now…" Alexis looked up at Optimus curiously as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked back at him waiting for an answer. Optimus sighed gently.

"Red Alert is a medic Alexis. A part of his job is to take care of sparklings that are injured or ill. He has a lot of skill in that area, but sparklings in our race are the equivalents of baby humans in yours. They are especially fragile when they have barley been sparked."

"So does this mean that Rad isn't going to be okay?" Alexis's voice cracked a bit.

"Don't worry Alexis, Rad's going to be fine. Red Alert will make sure that he's alright."

While the Autobots tried to cheer the kids, Red Alert had gone to the med bay and carefully placed Rad on the medical bed while he grabbed a needle and inserted some clear liquid into it. The second he approached Rad to insert the needle into his arm Rad shrieked again and despite his painful situation tried to move away.

"Hold still Rad. This will only sting a little."

Red Alert had softly but firmly held Rad down with one hand as he slipped the needle into Rad's arm. Rad gave out loud squeak once it penetrated making him move even more. The second the needle was out of him, Red Alert calmly picked him up and wrapped another blanket around him, gently hugging him to his chest.

"It's okay Rad. The medicine is going to make you feel better." He gently rubbed the area where the needle had penetrated with the blanket hoping that it would calm him down a little bit more.

Rad felt ridiculous because he had cried right after he had been given the shot. He had gotten shots before, why was this one any different?

'_Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the needle was too darn huge!'_ His conscience said out of the blue. He was starting to calm down and enjoy the rubbing that Red Alert giving his arm.

'_This feels kinda good…but I still feel a little woozy…'_

It took only a matter of minutes so the medicine and the rubbing could do the desired effect on Rad that Red Alert was looking for. He had fallen fast into stasis which gave his body the chance to use the medicine so that it could terminate all the organic food that he had eaten earlier. Rad was still running a slight fever though and needed someone to look after him. Red Alert started to think. He was still buried in his work with the space shuttle. Red Alert then started to smirk as he thought of who could sparkling sit Rad. He wasn't done talking to Blurr for being amused…

He walked back into the command room receiving worried optics and eyes that stared back at the small sleeping bundle in his arms.

"He's going to be fine. Oh, and by the way this occurrence isn't going to stop me from lecturing you, Blurr, about our particular predicament earlier. Therefore you are now being assigned sparkling duty with Rad. Only give him formulated energon if he's hungry. Make sure you DO NOT DROP HIM. And also make sure you don't lose him."

Red Alert gave Blurr the sleeping Rad and moved back to the engine rooms.

"Good luck Blurr." Then he got out of sight and started to work.

Blurr stared at the small sparkling that was now sleeping in his arms. How the slag was he going to get through this? He looked back at Optimus for help. The glance he received back wasn't going to help him in any way. He was stuck with the duty that he was assigned.

He sighed and walked out of the room. _'Maybe some fresh air will do some good for him.'_

He quietly went down the halls thinking about what he should do with Rad. He was trained a soldier, not a sitter. He didn't know anything about handling a sparkling other then what Red Alert had just said. There were also so few femmes on Cybertron that sparklings were even rarer to come across. As he went out of the base he stood in the shade and continued to ponder. It didn't take long for Rad to shiver and move in his stasis. Noticing this Blurr decided to get into the sun. He climbed up part of the small rugged hillside that was on top of the base. He sat down and made himself comfortable as he held Rad. The sunshine was warm and Rad had started to settle down.

Blurr felt out of place holding the sparkling. But he started to feel strange when Rad had snuggled deeper into his arms. It was a weird warm and bubbly feeling in his stomach, but at the same time it made him feel that he really cared, almost lovingly, for the little sparkling despite the fact that they weren't together for a long time. He pondered this thought as well and came up with one conclusion. Instinct. He guessed it was just instinct to care and feel for a frail little sparkling. A quick set of chirps and clicks had gotten him out of his trance as he saw Incinerator make his way up to him. He looked at him, then at Rad and started to make sneaky comments at him. Blurr gave out an annoyed sigh and cradled Rad a little tighter because the sun was setting, making the horizon a golden splashed orange color. This planet always held a surprise for him.

"Not a word or click is to come from you about this got it?" He looked back down at the minicon that appeared to be smirking at him.

**Chirrp?**

Blurr looked back down at the small bundle meeting optic to optic with Rad. He had just woken up and was staring around to see where he was. Blurr instantly got an idea. Red Alert had told them about his trick on how to get Rad to drink energon if they ever needed it, so, he though, it was now time to test it out. He started to tickle Rad on his side and was gratified to know that Rad started a burst of giggles and was trying to move his hands away. He grabbed his index finger with both of his now small hands trying to make sure that they wouldn't move any closer to his sides anymore. Blurr chuckled and tucked Rad back into the blanket before he looked back at the sunset.

**Somewhere close by the base **

"Frag! Why doesn't Starscream go out on patrol on this glitch forsaken planet? Why me?!"

Cyclonus grumbled while he flew over the desert landscape. He hated being sent on patrol when he could be back on the moon base annoying Demolisher. He was about to send a comm. Link to be sent back to the base when something blue shone in the corner of his optic. He concentrated on it with his optic and got a closer look. It was Blurr the Autobot.

"Look at that son of a glitch, enjoying the sun. What I wouldn't give to blow some missiles up his exhaust pipe---wait a nanosecond, what's that he's holding?"

Cyclonus concentrated harder on the small thing that Blurr was holding with care. He almost stopped his engine and fell out of the sky if it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to make sure that what he'd seen was actually real. He looked closer. Sure enough what he had seen was right. The Autoscums had a sparkling.

"Megatron's going to love this!"

**Now the Decepticons are going to find out about Rad! Oh noes! I hope this chapter was good. See you in the next one!**


	7. Chapter 7

I have returned! Just a reminder, **bold** is for when Rad is talking and if there is a change in the setting. I will also be referring to Rad as Skyshifter from now on. I hope that's a good name for him and I hope that no one else has used it.

Chapter 7

It had been a few weeks since the sickness incident with Rad. The Autobots made sure that he wouldn't eat anything that harmful again. They also made sure that he didn't crawl off anywhere without someone with him. He might have been a teenager when they had to save his life, but he was in a sparkling's body, he still needed to be watched and looked after.

Earlier that morning the kids came in to say good bye to Rad for a week. The community camping trip was starting that day and they had to hurry because the bus was coming in 15 minutes. Rad watched them leave and started to remember the days when he and his parents went along on those trips. He remembered how some smores got stuck in his hair and they had to wash him in the river. Then he caught a cold and he couldn't go hiking the next day. His parents stayed with him the whole day even if it meant not being able to have fun with the others and stay within range of his violent coughs.

"Skyshifter, where are you?"

Rad's fond memories dispersed as Red Alert called his Cybertronian name. He had gotten it because his frame was a light blue color resembling that of the Earth's sky. When it was time to leave with the Autobots, he always wanted to remember the clear blue skies and the warmth of the sun that had always made him feel at ease and as light as a feather. Those were the moments when it felt good to be alive. That was why he chose that particular color for his frame when Scavenger did his paint job.

He looked back to the doorway where Red Alert came in. He gave a small chirp so that Red Alert would notice where he was. Red Alert picked up Skyshifter from the floor and put him into his blanket, giving him a small kiss on the forehead before he went to the command center. Skyshifter didn't mind Red Alert's fondness for him at all. Since he now lived with the Autobots on the base, they had become his new family that was completely made up of older brothers. Although Red Alert was the only mech he considered as a parental unit. Another word he would have chosen for Red Alert would have been 'father' but he only had one true father and he would stay with his mom in this little town until their time had passed.

The second Red Alert entered the room the alarm for the newly awoken minicons went off. All the Autobots came in from different directions of the base and into the room. Handing Skyshifter to Smokescreen, Red Alert quickly typed on the large keypad and uploaded the coordinates on to the screen and also to the launching room.

"Red Alert, we need the whole team on this mission. Can you leave Skyshifter alone for a while?" Optimus looked at him waiting for his reply. He'd noticed Red Alert's quick attachment to Skyshifter.

"I believe so. You'll be okay by yourself right, Skyshifter?" Red Alert looked at Skyshifter who quickly gave a reassuring chirp that he would be alright. With that he looked up at Smokescreen.

"Smokescreen, can you please put him into your room until we come back?"

"No problem." Smokescreen quickly left the room and went straight to his room where he put Skyshifter carefully on his stasis bed and said that they'd all be back before he knew it.

Skyshifter squeaked a quick good bye before Smokescreen ran out of the room to join the others in the upcoming mission. After a few quiet minutes, he decided to crawl about the room. He had never been in Smokescreen's room and this was a perfect opportunity to inspect the place. He crawled to the edge of the stasis bed hoping to find a way to get down.

'_Woah, I'm too high! I'll never be able to make it down without getting hurt. Besides, how will I get back up if I did get down? Red Alert wouldn't like it if I slept on the floor without a blanket. Then Scavenger will get annoyed because I would have gotten my paint job dirty.'_

He chirped to himself to strengthen his resolve.

'_I guess I just have to stay up here until they come back. Nothing like a nice recharge to pass the time.'_

He went back and snuggled into his blanket. The next time his optics would open his 'big brothers' would be waking him up.

**In Florida**

Optimus lead his team through the large bog that was somewhere in southern Florida. Why would a minicon decide to be here? Each second they spent in the bog smudge and water went through the small chinks in their armor, not to mention all the grass and water weeds wrapping around sensitive wires and anything else that had tangled itself in it. To make it worse every step they took made them sink into the mud and it would be accompanied with many air bubbles coming to the surface making strange gushing sounds. They weren't going to get anywhere if they had to walk taking large steps and pulling their feet out of the mud every time. It was going to take weeks to get all their systems running smoothly again without anything dripping through their pipes or wiring.

"How's it hanging down there?" Jetfire said half laughing to himself as his comrades tried to move forward without falling over or sinking even further into the 'abyss'.

"Oh we are doing just fine down here! Why don't you join us Jetfire?" Hotshot said sarcastically trying to move his left foot out but only to be pulled back once he tried.

"Nah, I'd like to keep my paint job thank you." He rocketed away before Hotshot or anyone else decided to hit him with a sludge ball.

Sideswipe stared at Jetfire's and Hotshot's conversation and then questioned where Hotshot had learned all the colorful words that came out of his mouth when Jetfire left.

"Red Alert, can you pinpoint exactly which direction the minicon is supposed to be?" Scavenger said gruffly. He had had enough of this mud and decided that once they had a goal to where they should go they would do better.

After a few minutes Scavenger looked to Red Alert and was about to ask why he didn't answer him the first time, but then noticed that something was wrong. Red Alert looked confused then alarmed.

"What's wrong Red?" Scavenger asked, also making the others turn back to look at him.

"There is no minicon signal here…" he said quietly, but then was silenced when Thrust's jet form came from the distance and laughed at them as he transformed.

"Of course there is no minicon signal here! Lord Megatron has devised this to distract you. Now if you'll excuse me…" he said tauntingly, "I have to help with our new mission. Don't worry though; we will take good care of good care of the little thing." He started to laugh but was shot in the back by Jetfire who forced him to transform again. He was about to go after him and make sure his aft was handed over on a silver platter, but Red Alert's yell stopped him.

"No, don't go after him! We have to get to the base, they're after Skyshifter!"

"You've got to be kidding! We have to get out of here!" Hotshot spoke up quickly.

"Autobots, move out!" Optimus bellowed loudly as the launching sequence started. Hopefully they would be in time to protect their little sparkling.

**At the Autobot Base**

Large, pounding footsteps could be heard down the hallways of the Autobot base. It was too easy walking through the enemy's hallways when their enemies were out stuck in a giant puddle of muck. Megatron was imagining the look on Prime's face when he and his followers found their precious little cargo gone and out of their reach.

"Megatron, sir. Do you think it was okay to send Thrust to taunt the Autobots?" Demolisher asked following behind his leader.

"Of course. Knowing what will happen and not being able to get here in time to stop it will crush those fools' sparks." Megatron relished the thought once again and then turned to the rest of his men.

"You will search every bit of this base until you find that sparkling! Get moving!"

A round of 'Yes, sirs' was heard and then they separated from their leader. They searched the control room and Cyclonus asked if they could destroy the computer. Megatron rejected the idea. He knew that losing the little sparkling was going to cause more damage then a broken computer. Going through the base, they had finally started going through the personal rooms of the Autobots. Starscream walked into Smokescreen's room and set his optics to find anything with a spark pulse. He was just about to leave when his optics caught a small pulse coming from the stasis bed. He quietly walked over and checked underneath the soft little blanket that was huddled in the corner. Sure enough snuggled in the middle was the little sparkling. He grinned deviously and grabbed the sparkling by a small handle embedded in its upper back.

Skyshifter was jerked awake instantly and was about to chirp some obscene language at whoever woke him up. He would get in trouble for it later, he was so comfortable! But when he looked up he saw the orange eyes of none other then Starscream.

**Eaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!**

"Megatron! I found the sparkling!" Starscream ran out of the room while holding Skyshifter above his head. Skyshifter's systems were on the glitz! He was expecting to be woken up by an Autobot, not a Decepticon! To make even worse it was Starscream! Suddenly a thought came from his CPU giving him hope.

'_The minicons can stop them! They have to know by now that the Decepticons were here on the base, they could help me!'_

Skyshifter wiggled and tried to get to Starscream's hand, arm, anything that he grab a hold of and chomp. The second Starscream was in the same room with Megatron, he grew still. Megatron gave him a smile and a look that spoke to his little spark making it jump uneasily and rendered him unable to move away from his torturous gaze.

"Hello there little one." Megatron said his voice oozing with evil and dark amusement. "Demolisher, give him the drug."

"Yes sir."

Skyshifter moved uneasily and struggled even more to try to get out of Starscream's grip. The needle moved closer to him and he started to scream. The minicons had to be close by! He was right. Large clunks, pounding, and gunfire could be heard through the opposite side of one of the doors.

"Go ahead Demolisher! That doors not going to give in anytime soon! We locked it tight! Haha!" Cyclonus laughed and Demolisher proceeded grabbed one of Skyshifter's arms.

Skyshifter instantly tried to bite his hand, but Starscream held up his other arm and kept him still. He felt the sting of the needle penetrate through him and then he lost sight of what was solid and what wasn't. He started to chirp pitifully as he lost consciousness. He felt weak and helpless if he couldn't see what they were doing to him. He told himself over and over one single phrase.

'_I have to stay strong, I have to stay strong, I have to stay str…'_

Before he was completely lost into stasis he could hear the tormented sound of his minicon friends wanting to help him and he could also hear the cold laugh of Megatron.

Starscream gave the recharging sparkling to Megatron who cradled him carefully. The sparkling was to be handled with absolute care. The little thing was perfect black mail material and hurting it would make the Autoscums go into a frenzy. He needed to bide his time and think of a way to have a complete advantage against his enemies.

"Let us depart for the base. We can't afford to be caught here and give the Autobots any kind of hope of getting him back." Megatron said smiling. As they launched back to his moon base, he once again thought of the pain this little abduction was going to cause the Autobots and if he played his microchips right he was going to be imagining that pain for a long time.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews I gotten. I'm so glad people actually enjoy reading my story.

So I'd like to thank**blood shifter, Dragon260, Raven 06, GrimlockX4, Elita One, Bumblebee's Girl, Hikari Kaiya, P.A.W.07, Storm Blue Lightning Saix, and FK306 animelover **for reading and leaving reviews. Thank You guys!

Chapter 8

Red Alert was having a serious break down. The second they were back in the base, Red Alert ran as if his life was on the line. But when he had gotten to Smokescreen's room, he could tell that Skyshifter wasn't there. He couldn't feel his pulse anywhere in the room. He was about to search the entire base until Optimus came from behind him and told him what the minicons had told him and the others. Red Alert's spark sunk faster then a rock in water. Now here he was in his room trying to hold on to any dignity and source of hope he could muster.

Red Alert had the most drastic change in emotion compared to the rest of the team. Most of the others were practically boiling the air around them out of anger. Scavenger was trying to calm Hotshot down before he could transform and harm himself. Blurr and Jetfire stayed silent most of the time trying not to blow a fuse while Sideswipe and some of the minicons were worrying their processors to the point that they had over worked their cooling systems. Optimus, being the leader tried to pull everyone together. He would never forgive Megatron for entering Skyshifter into their battles. They still had time before Megatron would make his move, which meant that they had time to make their own strategy on getting their sparkling back. With that goal in mind he gave out the order for everyone to meet in the Tactics room.

**Decepticon Base**

Skyshifter woke up on the cold floor of the Decepticon base. The first thing he noticed was that he couldn't see. His optics blurred and made everything look like spaghetti and mashed veggies.

'_Eeew…green and sludgy stuff…'_

The drug that he had gotten earlier from Demolisher still lurked in his system causing his CPU and his sensors to partially shut down. His entire body felt numb and heavy as he tried to move to get as far away from where he was at as possible. As he crawled, he tripped on his own feet every few steps or so, but he only got so far until something held him back. As his face hit the grimy floor again he tried to grab what ever it was holding him back. It seemed to be connected to his back. Once he grabbed it he tried to feel what it was.

'…_chain…?'_

His CPU groggily grasped that fact and was trying to compute what to do next. Skyshifter grabbed his head with his small hands as he sluggishly tried to think on what would be the next best thing to do. Before he could even catch up with his thoughts his body off lined due to the lack of energy and sensory failures. He curled himself into a tight little ball on the floor before falling into the darkness.

Wheeljack watched the entire time that Skyshifter was on line until he off lined and curled into a little ball. The drug Demolisher had given the little thing was really strong. Soon they were going to have to deal with a sparkling with an extreme hangover. His spark went soft when he watched the little sparkling in his recharge. He remembered when he once went to visit the sparkling nurseries with Hotshot to give a message to the head femme. It had been so full of life and chattering from all the little sparklings coming out to play with them. He felt sorry that the little tyke had to stay with the Autobots, when they couldn't even help their own soldiers. He would never forgive them for what they did to him on that day.

Meanwhile Megatron was revising his ideas on the total destruction of the Autobots. Should he put a gun to the sparkling's head? Or should he make the little future Autobot fall from a height of over 10,000 feet? So much torture, so little time. One thing for sure was that he was going to get major results if he put the sparkling in a dangerous situation. As long as the Autobots were there to witness it, they would practically be under his control. He laughed softly at his ideas. Now would be a good time to bring the little one to him. It had a peaceful recharge since they had taken him. It was time for him to wake up.

"Thrust, come here."

"Yes, Lord Megatron?" Thrust answered as he quickly went in front of Megatron's throne.

"Bring me the little one. It is time he knows who his caretakers are for a while."

"Of course Lord Megatron." Thrust dismissed himself and went in the direction where Skyshifter was held captive.

It took only a few moments until Thrust came back with a tiny blue ball in his arms. He handed Skyshifter over to Megatron and went back to work on his next plan. The sooner they had a plan the better. Megatron looked over the small little bundle of wires carefully as he shifted its weight from one of his hands to another. Finally after inspecting him he sent Skyshifter an electric pulse.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! CLICK CLICK CLICK!!! SQUEAK CLICK SQUEAK CHIRP?!! **

Megatron almost dropped Skyshifter when he heard the amount of prolific words coming from his vocal processor. The sudden loss of stability from underneath him made Skyshifter go into another raid of clicks. Megatron grabbed Skyshifter's small handle bar in his upper back and held him up away from his head as he shouted for Demolisher.

"Demolisher! What is wrong with the thing?!!!"

Demolisher ran up towards his leader trying to hush the sparkling down, but only made it worse when he too received the negative end of Skyshifter's vocal processor.

**CLICK! Squeak squeak chirrp chiiiiirrp! CLICK CLICK CLICK!**

"Demolisher! Get him to stop this instant!" Megatron's yell was heard through out the base as the rest of his followers cringed and stopped their work. Aside from Megatron's annoyed voice they could also hear the offensive language and yells coming from the small little transformer.

"Megatron! It's still too early to wake him up. The drug is still mostly in his systems!" Demolisher spoke up trying to help Megatron.

Megatron practically tossed Skyshifter over to Demolisher, having been annoyed to the point of harming the little monster. But he contained himself. He needed the little slagger to be operational if he was to get the Autobots into the palms of his hands. The second Skyshifter fell into Demolisher's grasp he bit on his hand with all the force he could muster. Demolisher let out another yell and a stream of bad language before flailing his arms and trying to pry Skyshifter off his hand.

Skyshifter winced as he was being forced to let go of Demolisher's hand. Every time He moved he could feel the energon in his lines rush up to his CPU and then flush out again. He still couldn't see straight and he was starting to feel hunger cramps from not having eaten. He felt like complete slag and frag it to pit if he wasn't going to be allowed to have a nice peaceful recharge. As he let go he started to yell and scream till his vocal processor died out from exhaustion. He could feel Demolisher move, but he didn't care he just kept screaming.

It wasn't until Demolisher plunked him back on the cold ground where he had originally been that Skyshifter stopped screaming. He could tell that Demolisher put the chain back on because he heard it drop to the floor as Demolisher left to heal his hand. Skyshifter let out a couple of pitiful chirps as he started to curl back into a ball again. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be back in his little bed with a nice warm blanket after having finished his formula. He'd never thought he'd miss the taste of that wretched liquid now that he was here on the Decepticon base. But what he wanted the most was to have Red Alert hold him and tell him that everything would be okay.


	9. Chapter 9

About time I updated huh? Well, wait no longer!

Chapter 9

Skyshifter's body ached all over. As he hid underneath a large booth, his head panged with the after effect of the drug. He sniffled as he tried to make himself more comfortable in the small amount of space he was in.

'_What are they planning to do to me? Will they hurt me… will they hurt the Autobots? Ouch, my tank hurts… that's right! How long am I going to make it before I die of tank cramps? Don't they know I need to eat?! What the heck am I saying? They're Decepticons…'_

As his inner CPU discussions with himself overflowed and cramped the edges of his conscience, he kept a look out towards the door. Someone was going to eventually come in. They had to. It wasn't long before Skyshifter's thoughts were confirmed and an annoyed Cyclonus entered and searched the floor with squinting optics. Skyshifter moved his body into a position he thought was best for making it harder to get him out. He didn't expect Cyclonus would be so blunt with his care. Instead of going through the trouble of reaching under the berth for the him, he grabbed the chain and pulled as hard as he could. Skyshifter was yanked so fast that he skidded on the floor and was lunged straight into the wall.

Energon poured from his head wound and suddenly he couldn't take it anymore. He was wounded and the lubricate coming from it splattered across his face. He hadn't had anything to eat in Primus knows how long, his head felt like it was swelling and that it would overtake his entire body. His thoughts turned out ragged and jumbled and he did the only thing he felt he could do to help ease his overbearing nerves.

Cyclonus bent over toward the sparkling. Maybe he had pulled to hard? Nah! He was just a sparkling, he could get over it. The small whimpering chirps made his tiny guilty thought dissolve into the space of his conscience. As he looked back at the youngling he noticed the tremors that went through out its delicate frame and the energon tears that started to pour from his optics. He could tell that it was crying, but that wasn't his department. He certainly did not care for sparklings. They were weak, small, and a waste of energy. But he couldn't leave it there, Megatron would have his head then use his body as table, or even worse…a Cybertronian garden fountain!! The artists back before the war gave their art the strangest poises he ever seen. Some he would have thought back then completely not for public view. He shivered as he imagined himself, tippy toed, back arching, and holding a saucer filled with liquid. He snatched the whimpering sparkling, ignoring the small jerks of protest, and went out of the room.

As he headed toward Demolisher's room Wheeljack bumped into him. He stopped abruptly when he heard the raspy wail of pain come out of the sparkling.

"What did you do to it?" Wheeljack asked, slightly amazed at the treatment the sparkling had been given. Here was Megatron's black mail material and it was in terrible condition.

"…Nothing much. Just got it out from under the berth. He's a sneaky little slagger…" Cyclonus's CPU raked itself trying to find a way to save his aft and give a decent excuse to the ex-Autobot.

"Give him to me."

Cyclonus didn't hesitate as he shoved the sparkling towards Wheeljack. It'd be his problem now. Wheeljack watched Cyclonus, partially annoyed at his behavior towards the little thing. He should be more careful. He looked back down at the trembling sparkling. He was sure that trembling was not a good sign. The gobbled up sounds and squeaks coming out of its vocal processor alerted him to its pain and discomfort.

'_It wouldn't be bad if I help the little thing, would it?'_

He walked slowly back to his quarters, closing the door and only moved forward when he heard the rusty 'click' that it had closed. He sat on his stasis bed and watched the sparkling. It had squeezed itself into a tight little ball once again and its soft armor clinked against his as it continued to give out small tremors. He sat there waiting. Not waiting for anything in particular, but for an idea. Something to get him started on going through this awkward situation. He decided to get a small rag and clean the energon on its face first. As he got back up, the sparkling flinched. He ignored it and got the small dirty cloth from the side of the room. He started to rub the cloth lightly across his head, hoping for a reaction.

Skyshifter motioned his head to the side a little. Something was rubbing his head, it didn't feel clean, but it was the softest thing he'd felt since he'd been here. Slowly he got out of his curled position and then finally had enough courage to look up into the Decepticon's optics. It was Wheeljack. His optics shuddered a bit trying to take in the picture.

'_A Decepticon? Helping me…no…soothing me?'_

Wheeljack moved the cloth softly over Skyshifter's face, being careful not to make him wince or rub too hard. He felt the sparkling tense in his grasp, but he kept rubbing him. Soon the sparkling was cuddling underneath his chest. Wheeljack just watched as it tried to be as close to him as possible. He didn't blame him, the base on the moon had a much cooler temperature then that of the planet the moon orbited.

Skyshifter warmed himself underneath Wheeljack's chest. He had to trust him. The others were cruel and gave no particular interest in his survival. Now, if only he could get something to eat. He looked up at Wheeljack and let out a frigid chirp. Wheeljack stared back down at him. He chirped again…no response. His tank rumbled and then Wheeljack's face came out of its brooding stare. Did he understand now? Wheeljack moved Skyshifter from his warm spot and grabbed some energon that he hadn't finished.

'_After he drinks this energon I have to put him back. Megatron won't appreciate getting friendly with the sparkling.'_

Wheeljack placed Skyshifter back on his stasis bed and placed the last of his energon next to him. He watched carefully as Skyshifter tried to get a firm grip on the energon without making it spill. His frail little arms shook slightly as he tried to bring the container of the energon to his mouth. He started to drink some of the energon but the weight of the container made him fall backwards, making him wet and sticky. Wheeljack instantly went over to him and got the container off of his head. Skyshifter coughed and shook his arms before he reached out to Wheeljack. Wheeljack hesitated but then decided to go on and take him off his stasis bed, but not before he got a hold of his cloth. He gently wiped off the energon and then left Skyshifter on the floor as he cleaned his stasis bed and went for another container of energon. Skyshifter moved uneasily as he felt some of the energon leak into his circuitry, sticking into any available surfaces. As he moved he could feel and hear his wires unstick and stick again.

He was suddenly jolted out of his musing when Wheeljack plucked him from the ground and held him. Gently he pushed a new opened container to his mouth. Wheeljack looked at Skyshifter emotionlessly as he gulped down the energon and then curled next to him to go into stasis. He then walked out of his quarters and headed back to the room where Skyshifter was being held captive in. He sighed as he hooked the chain back on and placed Skyshifter next to the wall. He told himself not to look back at the sparkling and secretly hoped that it could find safety soon.

Megatron still sat in his throne, listening to the plan that Thrust had invented. It seemed it would work, but he had his doubts. Almost always something went of place. Thrust prodded him a little more, telling him about certain signs in the stars that say of his victory. He decided to take up Thrust's plan. With the sparkling everything would be set in motion. He got up from his throne without so much as a huff and walked down the halls to where his captive was. He found him fast asleep on the floor uttering small sleepy clicks. He unhooked him and with a devious grin took him off the floor. He assembled his soldiers and told them of the plan. As they left through the launch gate, he could feel his grin reaching the far sides of his face.

**Autobot Base**

They were all tense, Megatron had to make his move soon or they were all going to go on the fritz. Red Alert had gotten out of his melancholy mood a while ago, but that didn't stop him from worrying. But he tried with all his might to concentrate on the plan they had worked out. Calculating the techniques involved in it again he reassured himself that it would work. As long as Megatron's forces didn't spread out farther then they were supposed to. Now all they had to do was play the waiting game until Megatron made his move.

They didn't have to wait as long as they figured…it seemed Megatron was eager to kick their afts. They ran over to the launch room in silence, everyone already knew their part.

**Grand Canyon**

"Stop squirming, you little pest!" Megatron's hand grasped Skyshifter's back sturdily.

Skyshifter looked up a Megatron, clicked at him and looked the other way. He had to calm down, trying to escape at this moment was not going to turn out in his favor. He looked down below him, unable to avoid the large lump in his throat, he gulped. That was a long way down to fall if he really got on Meagtron's nerves. Megatron just so happened to have chosen, in Skyshifter's opinion, the worst place to wait for the Autobots. Right on the side of a cliff…of the Grand Canyon…with rocks on the bottom. Yep…what a perfect place to fall and die in the confusion of battle. He sighed at himself. When was he ever this sarcastic to himself?

"Lord Megatron, Sir!" Thrust raced over the skies to his leader, relaying the good news.

"No need Thrust", Megatron said as he stared back at Skyshifter "It seems the Autobots have come to your rescue. Sit back and watch the show, sparkling."

He placed Skyshifter on a large disproportionate rock. Skyshifter wiggled on it, wincing when a sharp edge scratched his left leg. He grumbled when he saw Megatron give the order to Cyclonus to watch over him. Cyclonus stared at him and gave a small grumble as he walked over to his post. At least he wasn't going to get his aft blasted ASAP. He looked over the side to where the Autobots where supposed to be. Skyshifter stared at him before he too looked in that direction. He silently hoped that his side would win with minor injuries.

"Prime, so nice to meet you again." Megatron's voice could have melted titanium.

"Megatron, you had no right to involve an innocent sparkling into our battles! Give him back to our ranks!" Megatron's smile stained itself even more on his face. It wasn't everyday that Optimus's patience and cool was disrupted.

"You're going to have to get through us to get him Prime."

"So be it."

In a matter of seconds the Autobots with Optimus dispersed. The Decepticons paid no mind to two of the Autobots that were missing. Shots and fires flared through out the canyon and the echoes bounced around in the mechs' audio receptors. Tidal Wave ducked as Scavenger threw Demolisher in his direction. They were hoping to gain an advantage without actually using their secret weapon so early. Megatron grimaced as he calculated the situation. They'd have to beat the Autobots by force. At least Cyclonus was still with the sparkling. They could at least give the Autobots the shock of their lifetimes.

_: Cyclonus, get going. :_ Megatron rumbled through the com. Link.

_: Haha! No problem Megatron. Cyclonus out:_

Cyclonus's hand plunged towards Skyshifter who shrieked as Cyclonus transformed. Higher and higher Cyclonus rose into the sky, barely having a firm grasp on Skyshifter. Skyshifter's tank tied itself in knots as he watched the ground become smaller and smaller.

"Give it up Optimus, or the sparkling will get it!" Megatron yelled, eagerness filling up half his voice.

His spark reveled as he watched Optimus's face go from victorious to pit. Optimus watched Cyclonus and his grip on Skyshifter. He shifted uneasily as Cyclonus let his grip fail a little more. He looked back at Megatron sending him a glare that would've shaken his soldiers if he had done it to them.

"You let him go, Megatron." Optimus stared at him, his face grave.

Megatron chuckled at Optimus's demand and the plight of his soldiers as they watched their precious sparkling.

"Watch." He cocked his head sideways signaling Cyclonus.

"There's my sign, hahaha!" Cyclonus took hold of one of Skyshifter's arms and let him dangle. Skyshifter's hands desperately tried to claw whatever he could get a hold of, but to no avail. His body wasn't strong enough to hold on. Energon had started to roll down his cheeks as he watched Cyclonus's cold hearted face laugh at him.

"Oooo, I found this little song over the 'internet'. It's too good to pass on!" His screeching laugh made Skyshifter's spine shake. Cyclonus let Skyshifter's arm go through his grasp until he came to his fingers.

**Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!**

"You ready?! This little piggy went to market," Cyclonus let one of Skyshifter's fingers slip, " this little piggy stayed home," another slipped and Skyshifter started to whimper, "this little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none." Only one more left, energon leaked from Skyshifter's optics. "And this little piggy went 'Wee wee wee' all the way home!" Skyshifter felt the air brush against his body and the terror over lap his sensors as he plummeted towards the earth.

"NOOO!!!"

Jetfire boomed from across the sky and tackled Cyclonus, sending his rotor blades to fling off his back. Quickly letting go, Jetfire lunged towards the falling sparkling just as Starscream streaked towards him and garbed his wings, making Skyshifter fall through his hands. Skyshifter watched as the ground came closer and closer to his face. He could hear his screams and he could hear the laughter of Megatron bellowing off the canyon walls as the screams of terror from the Autobots blended in. A single thought struck his mental processor amidst his panic.

'_This is how I'm going to die…'_

A shot of pink and white light flashed before his optics as a wide energy disk placed itself underneath him. Within moments the disk moved him down safely towards the ground. Skyshifter's body shook with the after shock and quickly reached out to Red Alert who ran to his location. After he securely held Skyshifter, Red Alert concealed himself waiting for the signal to come out. He cooed at Skyshifter and rubbed his back as he sniffed and cuddled further into Red Alert's arms. He was safe at last.

"WHAT?!!" Megatron roared out and snarled as Optimus and his soldiers corned him and his followers.

They had fooled him! The Decepticons had been tricked! His optics glazed themselves over with his hatred as he watched the Autobot leader. Suddenly his CPU sorted out something good about the failed mission. The sparkling was traumatized, and he did after all got to see the faces of the Autobots wrench in pain. There was also nothing to actually gain in this battle besides revenge. Megatron then stood up straight and looked Optimus straight in the optics before smiling and giving a faint 'retreat'.

**Can you guys tell that I'm not really good at fighting scenes? I'm sorry if I disappointed anybody in that. Please RnR if you want and no flames please. **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When the Autobots returned to the base, they were all pretty sure that Skyshifter was going to go into a traumatized state, but he surprised them all with his speedy recovery. I took all but 2 days for him to stop shaking and to get his systems back on track from the lack of care. Red Alert was greatly annoyed by the unhealthy way they treated Skyshifter, but he let the fact go. Skyshifter was safe and that was all that really mattered. They were all going to have a meeting soon anyways on how to help protect him again so that there would hopefully not be another incident.

But once things had settled down, Skyshifter found a way to make the Autobots even more watchful. It had started when the kids had come back from the camping trip they had. They brought over photos for Skyshifter to look at. They told him about everything they had done like rafting, camp stories, smores, and they even told him about the gruesome details concerning the attack from the mosquitoes. Carlos grumbled as he started to scratch a bug bite in his middle back. All over him there were pink splotches.

Skyshifter chuckled as he remembered how annoying mosquitoes had been. Now he imagined if one had tried to bite him, it would end up breaking its most valuable body part.

"What's so funny?" Carlos asked, as he stretched his hand behind his back, but to no avail as he couldn't reach far enough to scratch.

Skyshifter crawled over to him to see if he could try and help out his friend. Carlos looked over at him and then his face lit up, a smile emerging from the annoyed grimace from earlier.

"You know what Rad? We should teach you how to walk! No need to crawl anymore right? And besides you could get to places a lot easier!"

Skyshifter thought for a few seconds and his choice became instantaneous. He would love to be able to walk again. He never realized before when he was human how much freedom walking had given him and he could hardly wait till he could get an alt form. He would be able to go wherever he wanted, as long as someone knew where he was going of course. He gave a couple loud warbles and chirps to Carlos, showing him his support for the idea.

"Great! Hey guys, lets figure out how to get Rad moving on his two feet! How 'bout it?" Carlos threw his friends an anticipating glance as he awaited their decision.

"Of course! It's about time he gets up on his two feet and uses them." Alexis said folding her arms and giving up a small smile. Fred and Billy whooped out twice before agreeing.

"But how are we going to help him? I mean, we're gonna get squished if he falls on us." Billy asked, taking in how tall Skyshifter was compared to them.

"Yeah…I guess you're right. But then we have to help him somehow." Alexis looked up at him concerned.

They started to share ideas, like having him find something to hang onto while he tried to stand, but nothing was short enough or big enough to help him. Then they suggested that he go against the wall and push himself up. That only ended with his aft sore. They started to ponder on ideas again when Optimus stumbled through the room. Noticing the children deep in thought and conversation he walked towards them.

"What are you guys up to?"

They looked back at him, Billy and Alexis flinched, but soon gained their position. That was when Alexis got an idea.

"We're helping Rad with something. Can you hold his hand please?"

"Oh, I get it!" Fred said instantly getting Alexis's idea and then explained it to Carlos and Billy.

Optimus did as he was told, curious as to what they were helping Skyshifter with. Gently he held Skyshifter's hand, but he made sure he got a good grip on it.

"Okay Rad, tug and try to get up." Alexis said and looked at him.

Following Alexis's suggestion, he pulled himself up, using Optimus's hand to help him. Optimus soon got the idea and slightly pulled up his hand, helping Skyshifter stand up. Skyshifter wobbled, his legs new to the sensation of standing. Optimus's optics lit up. He now understood what the children were trying to help Skyshifter do, and he was glad that he had come along and stopped by. Now he would be the first of the Autobots to see Skyshifter take his first steps.

"Alright, now Optimus walk slowly while holding onto to him please."

"Do not worry Alexis, I have done this before."

Alexis looked up at him, her face scrutinizing his remark, but quickly as it had come her face relaxed and she and the others went to the side and gave him the honors of helping Skyshifter.

Slowly he walked a few steps and turned to see Skyshifter hang onto his hand with a death grip. Bringing his arm forward, Skyshifter took his first few steps in his body as he came closer to Optimus. He squeaked happily to see that he could indeed at least walk while having something to hold onto. It didn't take long for him to let go of Optimus's arm and walk on his own without falling. His baby blue optics locked on with Optimus's and he gave a big fat smile. Optimus couldn't help but let out a happy purr from is engine. He was so proud of Skyshifter. Most sparklings did not learn that fast.

"Time to go show everyone your new talent Skyshifter."

Optimus laughed watching Skyshifter run over to his friends as they showered him with praises. He could have sworn that if he could have, Skyshifter would have blushed.

"Do you want to come watch too?" Optimus asked the kids who were surrounding Skyshifter.

"Why wouldn't we?! Our hermano is strutting his stuff!" Carlos quipped happily.

Optimus picked up Skyshifter and headed towards the command center. His face plates aloof with an old mischief that hadn't popped up in vorns. Quickly he told his soldiers to assemble there to meet him because he had something important to show them. As soon as he entered, most had arrived and watched him peculiarly when they saw the happy glint in his optics.

"So, what's going on?" Jetfire asked Optimus. He then looked back down at Skyshifter, a thought rising that the meeting had to do with the teams' precious sparkling.

Giving a small audible chuckle that everyone heard in the room, Optimus gently settled Skyshifter on the ground. They all watched him for a few seconds, wondering why he didn't fall, then that was when all their CPUs overloaded as the answer came to them like a bull running at full speed towards a red cloth.

"He can stand now? Holy Primus!" Hotshot said, shocked.

He was the first to run over to Skyshifter and the others quickly followed in pursuit. The command center was now filled with the excited gibberish of the Autobots asking their Commander questions and the many congrats and praises for the little sparkling. Skyshifter squeaked and chirped, but he suddenly realized that everyone was here with him, except one…just as he had finished the thought, the door opened and in popped Red Alert, his arms dirty from fixing the fuel lines on the project he had been working on.

"What did I miss?"

Skyshifter quickly walked steadily over to Red Alert, his arms out stretched for balance. Everyone in the room then froze as an excited squeal came from Red Alert. They looked at him in utter confusion and shock as he bent down and gave a large hug to Skyshifter.

"When did you get yourself to walk huh?" Red Alert told Skyshifter sweetly.

Skyshifter chirped, happy to see Red Alert praise him for a hard day's work and practice on learning. Red Alert and Skyshifter then looked up sensing the stares from the others in the room.

"What?" Red Alert asked keeping his small hug around Skyshifter.

The Autobots looked at the dirty medic and the now dirty sparkling before Smokescreen pointed at him.

"Where is the REAL Red Alert?"


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! I can't believe I'm so close to having 100 of them! I'm so HAPPEH! When I reach 100 reviews I will post a one shot of Killed to be Born that won't be mentioned in the story from requests in the reviews. So if you have an idea, go ahead and post it in the reviews.

Chapter 11

Skyshifter couldn't believe it. Ever since he had become a sparkling his pride just kept getting destroyed. It didn't bother him that much back then because he needed the help, but now… now was just too much. He sat down watching the other Autobots' amusement with a thin grimace. He did not like this one single bit.

"He had it coming…poor thing." Optimus told Scavenger and then exhaled a small sigh.

In the past week the Autobots would take Skyshifter outside to walk since he had been cooped up in the base. But every time they took him out Skyshifter would have already had gone before them and they ended up taking hours trying to find him again. They kept telling him that this 'treatment' was needed so he wouldn't get lost from them again. As far as he was concerned though it was the Autobots who where losing him. So now he was stuck with a leash so that he wouldn't wander far from his caretakers when walking. He felt like a dog. A very unhappy dog.

"Come on Skyshifter, let's go." Sideswipe called from in front of him, gently tugging the leash.

With a couple grumpy clicks Skyshifter got up and followed Sideswipe off the base, ignoring the small snickers from some of the older mechs. How could they make him suffer through this humiliation?

As they went outside Sideswipe happily pulled along the leash and walked down a small path nearby a lake. Skyshifter had been there before when he was human and when he had been 'missing' during his walks. It was one of his favorite places for surrounding the lake was a large meadow, already in full bloom with wild flowers. Once they had reached the edge of the lake Sideways stopped to stare at it.

At the edge of the meadow, Demolisher and Cyclonus watched the pair without interest. Megatron was determined to get the sparkling again, his pleasure during the first kidnap had quickly worn off and he needed something to entertain him. None of the minicons were awakening at the time either, so here they were waiting for a chance to kidnap the sparkling again. If this became a habit, the Autobots were going to eventually get fed up with it and go full throttle against them. Sitting quietly, they waited until the pair had started to walk back to the base. The time the two had spent together had been uneventful. The Decepticons were at the point of running out and just grabbing the sparkling.

The watched Skyshifter carefully and when they were close enough to be seen clearly, Demolisher noticed some small and almost vague changes in the sparkling. It was a little taller then before, and his armor was fitting him nicely, taking in his form. It had also learned to walk upright, which meant that now it was able to run away from them. Demolisher straightened up as he saw Sideswipe come closer. Cyclonus would ambush the Autobot while Demolisher made a run with the sparkling. Tensing up he waited for Cyclonus to make his move.

It didn't take long for him to question how long Cyclonus was taking in making it. He grumbled slightly to find out that he wasn't there next to him and his circuits froze when he saw Cyclonus's figure above the pair of Autobots, for once Cyclonus was silent and stealthy. This shocking revelation was short lived once Cyclonus plummeted down and shot an array of shots at the Autobot caretaker.

"What the--?!"

Sideswipe grabbed Skyshifter and ducked to the side of a large tree. Instantly he sent out a signal for help. There was no way he was letting Skyshifter go with the Decepticons again, not after the horrible condition the sparkling had been found in. Placing Skyshifter on the ground, he told him to be quiet and stay still as he fought with the Decepticons.

Jumping out of the thicket, Sideswipe grabbed the back of the helicopter, wincing as the rotators sliced through parts of his armor. He admitted to himself that the idea wasn't very smart on his part. But he made up for it as he grabbed around the rotator's bottom mechanism and bolted it out of its place. Cyclonus lost his balance and his form crumbled into the ground. Feeling the particles of dirt in his circuits he cursed and grumbled.

"Aw, man. Now there's dirt in my circuits. You're gonna pay for this you piece of scrap."

Cyclonus had been shot down many times, but never before had an Autobot unbolted the mechanism that had helped him fly. He was for once, a very pissed of mech. Quickly getting up, he bolted to Sideswipe and grabbed his legs before he could run with the sparkling. Sideswipe then went tumbling down, face first, into the debris from Cyclonus's fall. Cyclonus let out a cackle before holding his gun at his enemy's head.

"Now, you stay still or I blow a whole in your central processor!"

Demolisher ran out of his hiding spot. Now was the chance to grab the sparkling that had been waiting for the Autobot to grab it, but as soon as he looked around the thick layers of green organic material around him he decided upon a better tactic.

"Sparkling, if you want your Autobot friend to live and not have a hole where his cranium should be, you'd better come out!"

He waited, and his call was answered reluctantly as Skyshifter moved out of the bushes, his face confident and restrained, ready to be taken away in return for Sideswipe's life.

"Oh, no you don't!"

A blur of yellow slammed into Demolisher's back, sending them both into a flying array of dust and dirt. Cyclonus was not better off as a huge crane threatened to hit his head like a golf ball. Ducking, he gave Sideswipe an opening and when the crane didn't hit him, Sideswipe's fist hit the mark dead center in his midsection causing his tank to revolve and stutter. Whimpering, Cyclonus stumbled to the ground holding his midsection and at the same time tried not to embarrass himself further as he fought the urge to purge his tank.

Skyshifter silently cheered as the Autobots won the small victory over his abduction. He was glad that he had hidden again so that he couldn't become a distraction to them as they fought. He jumped out of the bush, clicking happily when a pair of large dark hands grabbed his face and as silently as he had caught him, he went the other direction away from the scene of the mini battle. Skyshifter gasped as he felt himself and his captor rise from the ground quickly.

Skyshifter calmed himself down, if he wanted to get out of the new and certainly unlikable situation he needed to be able to think. Opening his optics, he saw a dark grey hand.

'_Whose hand could it be? Well, since he went off the ground then he must be either Thrust or Starscream. Can Tidal Wave fly? No! His hands have to be a lot bigger then this…'_

Quickly coming to a conclusion, he figured out that it was Starscream that had captured him since Thrust would have said something already containing phrases about how pleased Megatron would be. Skyshifter could feel Starscream pause in the air. No doubt wondering why he was so calm.

'_Now's my chance! But I can't do something stupid or I'll fall… and there's a chance that Jetfire can't save me otherwise Starscream would be flying like no tomorrow by now…what else is there? Wait for him to let his guard down? That chance won't come too soon…'_

Despite his now calm thinking, Skyshifter flinched when he felt Starscream make a connection to the moon base. Starscream's spark had started to encase itself a little deeper into his chasis for the upcoming warp and the tiny hitching sounds coming from his chasis made it vibrate a bit. Skyshifter's thoughts went into a full blown panic.

'_OH SLAG! I'm going to be warped to the moon base again! What am I going to do what am I going to do?! Okay, Okay! Calm down Rad, CALM down…uhhh...start thinking…I need to get out of here…Dear Primus! Save me!'_

Before rational thought came back to him, instinct took over. Without knowing it, his processor activated a program from its stored chip. The program ran through all his systems and waited for the signal to begin. Out of Skyshifter's tangled thoughts an idea bombarded itself to the surface. He needed to be able to fly. His only chance was to fly. The internet sprawled to life before his mind, he concentrated and grabbed the first file of an object that would allow him to fly. The program instantly received its signal and scanned the specs. His body started to break apart, but the warp had started to begin.

"What the slag--?!"

Starscream almost dropped the sparkling as it started to transform half way through the warp sequence. Losing his grip on his prisoner, Starscream moved backwards as the warp enveloped them both.

Feeling himself stretch out and then jumble together again, Skyshifter tried to move himself forward. Suddenly he felt the jerk of the warp moving him, but he realized that its signal crashed and then tried to reformat itself. Feeling the signal change once again he stopped as he watched the incoming view of where the warp had left him.

The moon was deep in the sky, penetrating the darkness and was giving the surrounding clouds a silver hue. He felt the warm breeze and smelled the dried dirt and grass of the area. He started to beckon himself to fly as the warp ended and he was starting to fall. Giving himself a slight push, he waited for his engine to turn on and move. Nothing happened. Trying again he realized that he had to operate himself to fly. His mind shattered into confusion once more as he desperately tried to figure out how to turn himself on. All of his controls seemed to be moving all at once and he couldn't figure out which one to use. He saw the ground coming closer and closer, and then he decided to just hang on and make it through the fall.

--

How's that for a cliff hanger? Do you guys have any idea what Skyshifter's alt form is? You'll figure it out in the next chapter! 8D

Also, I don't know if any of you were confused when i wrote the part about Skyshifter hearing Starscream's connection to the base. It's supposed to be that Skyshifter heard the comm. Link turn on to give off the signal since the moon base was too far away. Just think of it as the comm. Link upgraded the signal and made a noise doing that.

Hope to see you guys in the next chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The soft tussling of the grass brushed over the light blue form of an aircraft. The wind was soft and quiet as the morning sun skidded over the plains. Life had started to move again, the animals in routine for another day. In a water hole, small laps of water strode against the scratched paintjob of an aircraft as it lay motionless.

'_Too bright…'_

The sun rays hit the earth with full force, heat visibly radiating from the ground as Skyshifter sluggishly came back to his senses. He ran a scan of himself, noting all the dents and scrapes that he had gotten during the fall. A couple of missing armor plates were the worst that he had gotten. His armor protected him from sustaining any life threatening damage that he could have gotten as well. Checking himself over, he realized that he was some sort of jet. Rescanning the internet again he realized that he was a Su-30 MKI from India. His form was small, but it was an exact resemblance. Trying out his wheels he moved out of the water and stared back at the scraped reflection of himself covered with mud that was showing off the surface of the water.

He thought his new form looked stunning. But it bothered him not remembering exactly how he had gotten it. He remembered freaking out and then something just happened in his CPU, instinct or some sort of guidance had made him activate his ability to transform and retrieve the specs of probable alt forms. It happened so fast, everything seemed like a blur. The specs looked like coded Cybertronian words that flashed before his optics as they passed from the bottom of his vision to the top. And transforming was something he would never forget. It was like he had incapacitated himself and rebuilt himself over again. It was an exciting feeling, to feel himself pull apart and the air rush all around him.

Skyshifter shifted his wings up and down, they still seemed to be able to work…as soon as he could figure out how to make them work. Moving away from the water hole he gave himself a self scan with specs included. The only way he would be able to get home was to fly.

'…_It's going to be a long day…'_

**Autobot Base**

The tension in the base seemed to get higher and higher with each passing moment. Unlike before, anger did not reside with them, but worry. How could a sparkling, barely alive compared to his caretakers, fend for himself? Fear for Skyshifter's health and well being was apparent in all the Autobots, but Red Alert remained calm. The others were starting to wonder if the stress was glitching his processor, but Red Alert continued doing his work steadily as if Skyshifter was only in stasis and happily curled up on his stasis berth. Stopping his work for a second, Red Alert checked on his comrades. Their blank stares were becoming harder and harder as the time passed. Red Alert could have chuckled at them, but decided against it. If only they knew that Skyshifter's protoform had several adjustments made. Skyshifter had been with them for some time, but he was amazed at how fast most of his comrades had forgotten the capabilities Skyshifter had before he became Cybertronian. They had forgotten that the small little being they cared for was once a human adolescent that could practically care and think for himself. Rad was not to be taken lightly as an ordinary sparkling. At least Optimus also believed that their sparkling would make it with, as the humans put it, flying colors.

**Decepticon Moon Base**

"How could that idiot lose a sparkling!" Megatron's fingers squeezed the arm rests on his throne. He was beginning to reconsider having Starscream be second in command. It still amazed him that he left him in that position for that long.

Starscream walked down the empty hallways to his quarters. How could he, the almighty second in command of the Decepticon army, lose a sparkling? More over, how could a sparkling gain an alt mode? This Autobot sparkling was special, it differentiated from the normal development of a sparkling and it was able to use a program that only full fledged mechs in battle could operate. Starscream sat on his berth, the questions in his central processor overwhelming him. All of them needing to be answered making the capture of the little scum all the more important.

**On the Plains**

'_Primus…God…or whatever you're called, I regret everything negative I said or thought about being Cybertronian. Being able to fly makes up for it all!'_

The music from the radio station filled his cockpit as he flipped in midair. The warm air brushed off his armor as he felt his spark soar enough in its casing that all he could feel and hear was the erratic beat of it. It had always been a distant dream for mankind to be able to fly and free themselves in the unlimited space of the sky and here he was, a human turned Cybertronian, living a dream that most likely would have never came true had he remained human.

Maybe Primus was trying to tell him that he should embrace the second chance of life that he had been given. Ever since he had been 'sparked' he would always find something to regret and to miss whether it was out of madness or sadness. He would always miss the simplistic life he had, he admitted that, but that didn't mean that he should dwell on his sadness. Surely he had a purpose as a Cybertronian and if he didn't he'd find himself one. It was time that he fully accepted the new road life had paved for him. Skyshifter could feel himself smile, it had taken time but acceptance seemed to have finally made sense in his mind. Health class at least hadn't been a waste of his time.

Now all he had to do was find his way home. It would have been nice if he had a GPS system installed too, but alas Primus wasn't that giving. He'd have to find some sort of landmark or city that could help him find his way back to the U.S. If he found one he could estimate where he was on the planet, so far his guess was that he was in Africa but for all he knew he could be in Australia too. Or Asia perhaps? Maybe it'd be better if he found an ocean first.

--

Sorry it's a short chapter, but I'm planning to add a bit more stuff in the next one.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry for the super long wait. I've been updating some other stories that I have. Hope you enjoy this. The plot is starting to thicken. :)

Also, the italics in quotations are minicons speaking in their language.

Chapter 13

Skyshifter decided to just head north. It took nearly 8 hours, but he found himself where he knew exactly where he was. Who could mistake the 3 pyramids of Egypt? So now all he needed to do was go East and he'd be home by 2 days time if he was lucky. Glee filling his spark, he soared East, but his glee disappeared when a vague signal, familiar and yet all together like nothing he had ever felt, had intercepted him. Why was it so familiar? Where had he felt it before? Skyshifter had little time to ponder when his systems started to slowly offline. He quickly landed himself just in time as his conscience faded and he went into a short stasis lock. When Skyshifter onlined his optics again, without a second thought he soared towards the signal at a faster speed then he had ever gone before.

**Autobots**

"Sir, we have an incoming minicon signal."

"Red Alert, gives us the coordinates."

"Yes Optimus."

It had been such a while since a minicon had awoken and it would probably be the last one they would need to find as well.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus's voice rang through out the room, its command evident.

"Optimus! We want to come too!" Alexis and the other kids ran over to Optimus, hoping that their request would be fulfilled.

"It's too dangerous. You will all have to stay here. There is more to settle with the Decepticons then the minicon itself." Optimus said, his voice now a few degrees colder.

The rest of the Autobots stiffened and they seemed to glare at an invisible enemy.

"You have to bring him back , Optimus." Alexis stared back at Optimus's yellow optics.

"Yeah, man. We have to find our compadre." Carlos clenched his fists and stared at the floor. They were all dependent on the Autobots saving their friend and they couldn't help. Because they were simple humans, they were useless when it came to fighting against the Decepticons.

Carlos looked at the group of massive Autobots go through the transportation portal. They were risking their lives every time they left them. He stared at his hand and studied it. Small, breakable, and made of flesh. It was utterly useless.

**Minicon Section of the Base**

"_Has a minicon ever awoken when Skyshifter had been 'sparked'?"_

A green minicon looked up expectantly at High Wire. In fact all the minicons stared at him unevenly.

"_No. If the Autobots are going after the minicon, then they will surely find Skyshifter."_

The small group of minicons huddled closer together. They knew what was coming. They knew what was going to happen and surely the Autobots would come to them for understanding.

"_He will shield us when the time comes right?"_

High Wire looked over to Grindor, fear apparent in his form.

"_He will. Since he has freed us in the beginning."_

They huddled closer together. High Wire was their only source of information they could rely on. Of course some were still confused on what had exactly happened back then…in the beginning. They only remembered looking at the world unfazed. To them it had looked bleak and completely alone. The only thing that had mattered was the will of their creator. It was like living in a space of darkness, except for that one line connecting them to their creator. No one knew where the line went and they certainly didn't have the drive or thought to care. That was until _he_ came. According to High Wire he had come from the future and had somehow cut that single line the second he had called out to them, to every one. Now it was his voice that had them connected, but from it came everything else. Color, perspective, and the ability to exist and choose one's own fate. How he had gained the ability to free them was uncertain. Even High Wire did not have that answer. He had thought that it was perhaps because he was mortal, unlike them. But that did not help answer any questions. But even through all the misty questions, they would not question his existence. There was no need to.

But now that he was immortal, his ability could no longer be concealed. Now that one of their own had awakened, he would surely be there. For what purpose though? They could care less. As long as he would shield them from being tied down by a single line again. They were selfish creatures, unable and unwilling to return as they were before so they cowered behind him for protection without giving anything in return. But at the same time they knew that he wouldn't accept anything in return.

"_How do we know that he will though?"_

The minicon's question plagued the others. No one was sure of anything anymore. They only felt the connection. High Wire spoke clearly to his fellow minicons.

" _How he was sent to our past is unsure. I believe that I've sent him. But since he is immortal, the circle between time cannot connect as it was so the future will change. But since it had connected once before this point in time, we still remember his visit."_

"_Everything is too confusing High Wire."_ A grey minicon said as he shifted to the side.

" _Isn't our very existence confusing as well? How was it that he was able to give us what we have? How is it that we still remember him? How does everything purely exist? I believe much of what we ask of the universe is unanswerable. But we can feel and interact. We exist. And we have him to thank for that." _

Another minicon popped a question.

"_Will he accept our burden?"_

High Wire almost chuckled.

"_I have been his companion since the beginning of our awakening on this planet. Though we have been distant because of his predicament, that does not change our bond. I do not believe he could ignore us, nor do I think he will feel forced to shield us. But I am not certain of what is yet to come. I only hope for the best."_


	14. Chapter 14

Hi Everybody! Long time no update yet again. Thank you for waiting so patiently.

I don't remember if there was an episode showing the last minicon to be found, so I'm also not sure if the setting for this chapter is accurate. It probably isn't…

I also want to apologize for it being such a small chapter, but my goal is to have the next chapter be a least a bit longer then usual.

Chapter 14

Megatron stared at the view before him. It was calm, only the small shifts in the wind created a small disturbance as the sun gently disappeared from the horizon. This would be the final piece towards gaining the advantage over Prime. Then he would be able to destroy his opponent before the real battle begun. He would be the ruler of Cybertron! It was his desire and it was his destiny. No longer would those Autobots pester him, no longer would they taint his perfect world. A world that would succumb to his every word and command, a world that would shiver as he walked over its surface. Yes indeed, what a wonderful world it would be once this whole ordeal was over.

Megatron turned around, eyeing his soldiers coldly before he gave out the order. They dispersed quickly leaving Megatron to his thoughts. Then he walked through the dense grass that squashed under his weight, shifting through the spaces between trees and snapping the branches under the strain of his force. The birds lifted from their homes in masses, sprinkling the sky with freckles. Even the critters living in the underbrush scurried from the towering form that devastated their homes. A quiet hush flowed through the landscape as Megatron went farther away.

**Autobots**

Optimus felt the air ripple across his armor, too calm for the upcoming battle he and his soldiers were expecting. The Decepticons would get what was coming to them. Harming a sparkling was going too far in this war and they would not stand for it. Coming to himself Optimus turned to his comrades.

"Split up and search for the minicon. Do not hold back."

**Autobot Base**

"_It's starting! The Autobots have left and are going to battle with the Decepticons!"_

High Wire watched as his fellow brethren hustled together, trying to soothe each other's nerves. They wondered if Skyshifter would help them, others wondered if he would make it alive. Despite being grouped together, trying to get away from the connection they had with their Creator, many were uncertain to whether they could fully trust him to help them. Those were the minicons who had the closest connection to their Creator when they had no conscience.

"_Why do we have to rely on him? It is not worth it, he does not belong in our affairs."_

Ah, another 'discussion' was on its way.

"_We don't need help! We are strong in ourselves, we can grant our own freedom!"_

"_And how well has that gone?"_ Another minicon stood up. _"For the love of Primus, we are in a war! I admit it, I despise the Decepticons, but what else could we do? Rebel? They would have off-lined us, scrapped us. We were nothing in their eyes. At least here we were safe from that."_

"_But that hasn't saved us from being used all the same! The Autobots still need us in order to fight back." _

They were getting harder and harder to avoid, these discussions that only left them all tattered and separated. High Wire could hear their angered clicks echo off the walls of the room, he could see the fire and hate that burned their optics.

"_If you are so sure that we can manage it on our own, please enlighten us."_

High Wire had not meant to sound so intimidating when he heard his voice engulf the room, it did however sear away all the arguments into a small sizzle until it became unbearable quiet. But he pressed on to his advantage.

"_Why are we here? It is because we chose to leave, am I correct? But when did we get the choice to leave? When were we allowed to think beyond what was dictated to us?"_

Everyone in the room knew the answer. When _he_ came.

"_We would have always belonged in that cesspool. Our hulls nothing more then disposable toys at His will. I still remember those memories. But they are dull and emotionless, nothing I wish to recall for myself." _

Unfortunately, his positive query met harsh criticism.

"_We are different then he is! He is one of them. It doesn't matter what side he's on or what he does, we're always going to be in the same position. They're going to use us, they're going to want to connect themselves with us and sap us of our own power. They drain us like newly refined Energon every time."_

Tension spread to the far corners of the room.

"_That's not true. The Autobots need us by default. They would never do this to us if they were given a choice."_

"_You and your trust for that Prime. So you're Leader 1, big deal you heard so many lies spout out of that giant's mouth that they're making your circuits defuse. You traitor. Anyone who believes that we can live freely among those giants are a bunch of traitors!"_

Sparkplug exploded. He charged at his opponent, pinning him to the ground gaining the advantage. The others flocked together, tearing apart the two fighting minicons before they could tear each other's limbs apart.

"_You fragger! Optimus is good! They're all good sparked. Just because you were mishandled does not give you the right to judge them that way! No matter what you think they are still protecting us. Be grateful for that you worthless piece of scrap."_

High Wire could tell that Sparkplug's words had stung its offender. In a way the other deserved what he got coming for speaking ill of the partner Sparkplug would have gladly given his life to. Grindor and Shershock came to stand next to him as he watched the group of minicons recover from the quick confrontation.

"_I do not think that I will be able to contain our brothers."_ High Wire stated.

"_They are afraid. Once Skyshifter can help us we will be strong, and these arguments will cease to exists because there will no longer be any fear for what will happen."_

High Wire sighed, shoulders slightly slumped. Shershock merely watched High Wire and then concentrated on the others. They were lucky the Autobots weren't there to see them argue with one another. It would have disturbed them greatly because they had always seen them as a connected group with respect for one another…

Shershock froze in his current thought when a shrill scream of terror echoed through out the base. Every minicon seemed to have frozen as well, as the scream quickly died out. Then they all stampeded toward the scream, partly instincts and curiosity telling them that they should know why the scream happened, but it was probably already something that they would have expected since the scream was from Alexis. In hordes they entered the command room and stared at the monitors, barely noticing the shaking kids next to them.

Skyshifter had made it to the battle and was heading straight towards the minicon panel that Sideways was holding. The connection would be apparent now.


	15. Chapter 15

Much Thanks to Shizuka Taiyou for sending me PMs and making me get off my butt and write. Also, does anyone remember that one episode in Armada where the kids are on Cybertron and Starscream and some other mech are shooting each other and then the kids seem to go to the past and meet Hot Shot dying and the minicons coming out of green goop? If you have that would sort of explain chapter 13. That episode confused me…

Anyways thank you everyone who has read this story. You guys are the best!

Chapter 15

The wind screamed past his audios, but it was only in the background. Everything was in the background; the trees, the sky, his body, and the others battling. The closer he got the more everything disappeared but the small green panel that had been lifted in the air. Stretching his arms, he plunged towards the purple mech who was unaware of his approach.

The second he wrapped his servos against the smooth panel he felt a jolt run through his systems for a split second before the world came back into perspective. His surroundings suddenly existed again and the various warnings that his systems finally decided to demonstrate in his vision beeped loudly to life. They seared across his vision, nearly blinding him as he instinctively continued to fly forward brushing next to leaves and crashing through vast amounts of branches.

"Hold on there Skyshifter!"

Skyshifter wanted to look where he had heard the voice, but his frame felt too battered, too hot to be able to make any sudden changes in movement other then going forward. Suddenly a pair of cool servos grabbed around him and Skyshifter instinctively wound down his systems. Before long his thrusters ebbed from the lack of energy going through them and his frame became stiff. His pump continued to work desperately, trying to fill in all the vents with fresh air as Skyshifter tried to keep from going into a forced recharge.

"You okay little buddy?" The voice crooned concernedly at him.

Skyshifter knew that voice and with it brought in the safe feelings of home. He ignored it, trying to put it behind the strongest feeling he had at the moment: the energy that glowed in between both his servos. Slowly his arms began to shake as he opened his palm and allowed the panel to be seen. Its soft green light flickered across what was left of his blue painting and without understanding what exactly he was doing he willed that the panel do something. _Anything_. It didn't matter what.

It did just that.

The panel activated and in the spiral of multiple colors a minicon appeared and landed softly on top of Skyshifter, its gaze never moving from his faceplate. Then it spoke.

"…_Greetings."_

It was just one word, but laced around it was a twinge of confusion, barely noticeable in its metal tone.

"Hi…" Skyshifter replied before his systems were at their limit and forced him into recharge.

**Battleground**

They had to stand their ground or they would rip Skyshifter to shreds! The sparkling was already in the poorest of conditions, a Decepticon being able to reach him would mean his permanent offlining. That was certainly not an option for this battle.

: _Jetfire!_ : Optimus commed as he threw a punch towards Megatron's torso.

: _Yes Sir! :_

: _Return to base with Skyshifter, that's an order!_ : Swiftly, Optimus managed to dodge one of Megatron's canon blasts as he ended the comm link, relief flooding momentarily through him at the thought that his second and the sparkling would be safe back on base.

"Give it up Prime! You are no match for me…" Megatron's voice was down an octave lower and it bellowed over the battered terrain where their soldiers continued to battle against each other.

"I am more then enough for you Megatron!"

Optimus ignored the sounds of metal scrapping and denting against metal as he looked for a weak point to gain the advantage. As he threw another punch, he could vaguely hear Smokescreen's occupied grunt and Sideway's harsh commentary. Then a kick flung at him on his right and for a moment he could not hear anything as the pain rippled through his relays.

"Surrender..." Megatron almost purred as Optimus tried to regain his balance. "And I will spare you a torturous offlining." Optimus could only stare as he watched a predatory sneer appear on his rival's faceplates.

"Never."

The sneer disappeared as Megatron computed what he said for a second.

"As you wish." Then it returned, but larger this time as his optics glinted a malicious red and lost whatever sense of mercy he would had given earlier for his surrender. Optimus braced himself for the impeding attack.

Megatron felt his frame tense in anticipation, the feeling akin to an aphrodisiac, as he locked onto his foe. In less then half a second he could envision all of what he could do. The creak of his armor dismantling in his grasp, his claws slicing through the warm and sleek wires and lines throughout that loathed frame, and the spasm of pain and realization as his servo went to crush his helm, yellow optics helplessly watching…

Yes, the current of energy speeding through his systems created a blazed frenzy filled with the lust for power and superiority. Megatron made his smile wider eager to engage the Autobot savior.

Fighting the Prime was even better then beating the slag out of his feeble Second in Command.

_: My Lord! It would be wise if we retreated! The Autobots are gaining the upper hand and it is possible that we could garner large amounts of damage! : _

The meek desperate voice of Thrust echoed through Megatron's comm link. He internally sighed with annoyance before tackling Prime while using the force of gravity with his weight to regain his balance while at the same time getting into the motion for a roundhouse kick. The humans' Chuck Norris had nothing on his battle proficiency.

_: You worthless excuse for a Decepticon, what is the problem?! : _Megatron hissed in the link.

Why couldn't his soldiers be as compliant and as eager to please him as the Autobot scum do for their leader?

_: Starscream is up against two of the enemy, while Cyclonus has been out of the sky, Tidal Wave cannot move in his current position, and the only soldier without any major damage is Demolisher… :_

Megatron growled. Demolisher couldn't overturn a battle if Primus willed it.

_: And you… : _Megatron skeptically said, _: Why aren't you in the thick of battle doing your duty to the Decepticon cause? :_

There was no answer through the comm link and Megatron had to dive away before Optimus could get a direct shot at him with his rifle.

_: Get to work! :_ He all but snarled at the flyer.

_: Yes my Lord!! :_

Blessed silence greeted him as the comm link ended.

He then proceeded to push his annoyances aside for the time being and concentrate on being able to hit Optimus with his canon, but what Optimus called for next made Megatron stop his offensive tactics.

"Sparkplug!" Optimus had bellowed through the thick of their battle. The yellow minicon rushed to Prime's side as Megatron aimed and fired, hoping to hit them before they both had the chance to create a power link.

The blast had only managed to scrape Optimus's left shoulder armor, but the force was enough to make him topple over unsteadily. Optimus waited for his optics to adjust, and then internally sighed in relief as he felt his partner complete the power link.

"It's over Megatron." Optimus said, his voice confident as he grabbed his gun from subspace and pointed it at Megatron.

"It will be over when I tear through your spark!" Megatron yelled.

Optimus wasted no time in watching Megatron move and fired his gun, the red and yellow rays of light brightening up the nearby surroundings covered in shadows and debris. He relished Megatron's scream of pain for the moment and smiled behind his face mask as he watched him order the retreat.

**Autobot Base**

Jetfire placed the sparkling on some soft towels in the med bay after having cleaned up what ever wounds he could from the battered frame. It looked like it had been shredded apart in some places. He continued to stare at the tiny frame, the vents easily sifting air through out its system cooling it down from the extraneous work out that he had been doing and the practically suicidal stunt at Sideways.

"What in the pit were you thinking?" Jetfire said mostly to himself as he tried to piece together what had happened and the sparkling's strange behavior. It felt unnatural.

His musings were stopped when he heard soft whines come from Skyshifter and his frame began to lightly shake. Softly, Jetfire made sure to carefully bundle him without causing any more pain and held him against his chest plates. He made sure to heighten his spark energy so that his plates would be warm and welcoming. After a few small chirps, Skyshifter relaxed and went into a peaceful recharge.

"You've been through a tough day kiddo…"

He was then quickly alerted of four heat signatures heading towards him and he watched as they all stepped into the med bay.

"Is he gonna be alright Jetfire?" Fred asked as the rest just stared at the bundle in his arms who was blissfully unaware of the audience.

"Should be. I scanned him and there's no major life threatening damage, but he's still pretty banged up, Red Alert is gonna have to fix up a lot of his armor and give him a lot of bed rest."

"Gracias a Dios…" Carlos said quietly as he shook his head and bowed down a bit. Alexis didn't even utter a word, as she dried her own tears and offered a small smile.

"So everything's going to be alright, right?" Billy asked, just to placate his mind of anything going wrong yet again.

"Yeah," Jetfire smiled behind his own face mask while his optics brightened just a bit more, "everything's going to turn out okay. Just you watch."


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks to everyone for continuing to read this fic! You guys are the greatest. Also, as always, much thanks to Shizuka for always being there to remind me to write. Where would all my fics be without her constant PMs? Anyways, this fic will soon be coming to an end, but it's still a while away so don't worry about it much.

Chapter 16

The gentle hum of machinery and equipment at their optimum best sounded through out the pristine white of the med bay. The lights were lowly dimmed and casted a soft glow, marking the occupants with soft hues of shadows. While one was peacefully recharging, the larger occupant merely continued to stare at the other, his face grim. Despite this his body was hunched over a large chair and he appeared miserable and weak as he began to lightly pet over the top of the soft helm of the sparkling.

Red Alert continued to stare at Skyshifter. No matter how hard he tried to preoccupy himself his sensors would not allow him to stop monitoring his little sparkling. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep himself from staring at the adorable form next to him while using his infrared vision to keep watch of the most important thing: the tender little spark that pulsed softly in the battered chassis. He was sure that if he turned his back for a click it would die out like a candle being snuffed.

When Skyshifter was lost, away from the caring optics of the Autobots, he knew that he would be okay because despite being a vulnerable sparkling in the eyes of Cybertronians he was still technically a healthy young human adult. He wasn't completely helpless and he certainly didn't have the processor capacity that sparklings had. Plus thanks to his transformation systems coming online he had transportation and as long as he wasn't near any military bases or Decepticons he was pretty much safe. He had thought that before the battle and instantly deleted all the positive possibilty of outcomes of Skyshifter's survival skills the second he saw him pierce through the sky, flying at maniacal speeds towards the enemy. Everything that he had learned from Ratchet about staying calm and collected was thrown out the proverbial window as all his systems stayed locked onto the tiny form. At that moment he didn't give a slag about his duties because the only thing that mattered was protecting his sparkling. His little sparkling that looked like he was going to permanently offline and if that happened where would he be? What would he do? Logically his processors told him to keep going forward, that his offlining was just another number in the casualties of the war. But he was sure that it would be the offlining of Skyshifter that would put him over the edge. Ratchet always told him that he couldn't get too attached to patients because sooner or later they would end up chipping apart his spark piece by piece. If Skyshifter were to fade it wouldn't be a chip that would tear apart, but an entire section and he couldn't live with that.

With that thought, Red Alert got up from his seat and no matter how hard his processor told him not to do it he gently lifted Skyshifter off of his resting place and into his stable arms. Slowly he pulled the sparkling up to his chassis, aligning both of their sparks. As if on instinct, Skyshifter cuddled into him and his tiny fists curled around some dented armor. Red Alert couldn't help but sigh contentedly as he clutched him a bit tighter feeling as if he could keep the entire universe at bay from touching him. He then sat back down on the chair and felt more than listened to the faint pulse of life that came from Skyshifter's chassis.

**Command Center**

_He could see the bleached light blue frame in his servos, could feel the heat rolling off the damage. Something was wrong. All he could do was watch as Skyshifter gripped the edges of the panel, the green luminescent glow spurring over his tiny servos and then there was the spiral of colors appearing—too fast, things were happening too fast. Why couldn't he move and do something? Why couldn't he—_

"Jetfire."

Instantly the replay of his memory chips ended and the bulky astronaut plane turned to look at the only bot that could order him around.

"Optimus." Jetfire returned to his leader.

"You have been brooding to much my friend. Tell me, what is on your processors?" Optimus casually sat across from where Jetfire had been sitting in front of the large screen in the command center. It was obvious that he couldn't get out of this confrontation.

"I was just thinking Optimus." Jetfire responded, tilting his head for the added thinking effect.

"About what?" Optimus prodded.

" 'Bout the sparkling. We're missing something Optimus," his head swiveled over to stare at his leader's faceplates "there's something that we're not getting and it has to do with Skyshifter. I'm so sure I can taste it."

Optimus let his head turn downwards, the way it always turned when he was deep in thought.

"I can see how that could be a problem."

"Of course it's a problem Optimus!" Jetfire had to keep himself from yelling as he continued. "Skyshifter isn't stupid enough to dive-bomb who knows how fast into a battle straight at the enemy. Plus how in the pit did he even know how to find us? He doesn't have a GPS connected to the main terminal as far as I know."

Optimus continued to take in his statements and Jetfire decided to state his other deductions.

"One other thing…" Jetfire stated, softer then what he had said before. Optimus looked up.

"When he was there, he didn't go to any of us. He went straight to Sideways, for the minicon panel. It was like the whole entire scene between us and the Decepticreeps didn't exist."

Optimus wished that he could have explained something rational to his second in command, but nothing came up. No ideas or guesses to Skyshifter's unnatural reaction in the air. The more he thought about it the more distraught he became. There was no evidence that he could use to formulate any sort of idea on the subject. Not even Red Alert could give him any information to help. Slowly he got up from his spot and addressed Jetfire.

"Thank you for telling me. It has left me with much to… investigate. Stay well Jetfire and don't think too much. I'm afraid your processor can't handle it."

Jetfire couldn't help but snort and watched as Optimus left the center.

_A horrid screeching was contorting in the air, the force unbearable as the miniscule figure continued to burn and its pieces of protection began to tear apart. Skyshifter didn't scream, didn't move from the straight line that would collide him with Sideways. And then he saw as Sideways turned, his optics enlarging as he took in the sight of the blue figure that was heading straight for him like laser fire. Then in a flash petite servos reached out, burned and scarred from the strength of the wind around their delicate wires, and grabbed the florescent panel from out of his disgusting servos. It was then that he had a reaction to move because he knew that Skyshifter was going to go through the top canopy of trees and that was bad because he was gonna get hurt and he couldn't let him get hurt because he was too young for this slag and why was he here in the first place? _

_He had to go faster, the sparkling had already started to plummet into the branches of trees and he could see them break and suddenly he felt that Skyshifter was going to break just like those branches. _

_He caught him. That battered cracked form of Skyshifter and then there was the panel… it activated in a swirl of colors. It felt like Skyshifter was going to offline. It looked like too much damage for a sparkling and the panel… it activated. Skyshifter was staring at the panel and it activated. The minicon activated. The panel… panel…panel…panel…_

For the longest time Jetfire couldn't get past that part. Like a virus that had put him in an endless loop.

**In a crater on the Moon**

Something wasn't balancing right.

Sideways stared up in to the endless black that was space as he continued his thoughts. The Decepticons were doing their part, taking minicons and turning them into the shells they were meant to be. Useful little tools were what they had been created to be, to continue to keep Cybertron in its axels deep with savagery and sinister energy. That was what the Master wanted. It was what he needed. Cybertron was a useless planet filled with pitiful insectoids. It would not be missed in the universe.

But something had disrupted the plans. Their goal could still be reached, but the disruption would cost them time. He knew that the stupid fake Cybertronian sparkling had some sort of part. What it was though was up to major speculation. He could feel the difference in the putrid little thing's spark. It didn't—pulse? Shine?—like a true Cybertronian. But at the same time it was one. Like an entirely new breed. But that was impossible because their race didn't create different resonating sparks. Not like this. It was a strange little enigma that the Autobots had gotten the duty to care for.

Another interesting tidbit was the information he had pilfered from Starscream a while back about the sparkling. It could transform. It wasn't largely important information, since he could understand the Autobot medic upgrading some of its programs for a better chance of survival, but nonetheless the more information he could get on the pathetic little creature the better.

Because if there was one thing he was sure of it was that it had to have some sort of connection to the minicons. The sick feeling he got from the minicon's freedom of being released from the panel quickly after it had been snatched from his very servos was proof of that. Exactly what that connection meant was also up to speculation. Either way, the parasite needed to be eliminated because anything that could so much as alter the plans, even with a miniscule chance, was not to be tolerated. He would make sure of it. It would greatly please his Master if everything continued without a hitch, as the humans put it.

With his concentration highlighted on the new target, Sideways transformed into his motorcycle form and speedily raced to the entrance of the Decepticon moon base.

**Minicon common room**

"_It's getting closer, isn't it?"_

The room was stifled in silence, as if they were all waiting for their doom. The easily noticed the change in behavior from a few of the Autobots. Well, only two to be precise. Optimus and Jetfire. The rest were concentrating on their duties or worrying over Skyshifter.

"_Yes." _High Wire replied.

"_But we're not all here. What about the rest on the Decepticon base? And what of the other three combiner teams?"_

"_I do not know." _High Wire said softly, for a second unsure of what was to become of them. Grindor then came to his rescue.

"_I can presume though that the Autobots will have to steal the others from the Decepticons sometime soon. As long as both sides have us in almost equal numbers neither side will get the advantage."_

"_I think we'll be fine as long as Skyshifter is with us." _A new voice said out of the blue after Grindor had spoken.

The sudden change in tone had quickly made most of the minicons alert to who had said it since most of them were on the last of their nerves. It was their newest brother to join them. The minicon that had activated in front of Skyshifter.

"_Explain! Why do you say that?" _A minicon shouted from the opposite side of the room. A few others were also staring at him, unsure as to why he felt so sure in his wording.

"_I felt the difference. Like the Voice was calling to me again and… I don't know, but it felt right I suppose." _By the end of his explanation he had begun to stutter and the other minicons were unsure whether or not to believe in their brother's trustful stance.

High Wire looked at the faceplates of all his brothers and couldn't take their constant change of feelings. Those feelings made him feel sour and rusted about their current situation. Why couldn't the others get that Skyshifter was going to come through for them all? He could feel it in his circuits and he knew the rest did too, but why did they keep denying themselves? Then all of a sudden he felt the need to remind them of what they were fighting and waiting for because he knew that no ones else would.

"_Have any of you no shame? Do you feel that our brother is lying?" _The heads of many began to look down in embarrassment as High Wire continued. _"Many of you have been activated by either an Autobot or a Decepticon. According to what most of you have said it is simply the extra power from them given to you that had allowed yourselves to activate. But there are few of us who have had the luck of being either activated or having been in contact with Skyshifter. I assure you that it is not only his energy that is felt. The second he had touched my panel and the signal was sent to the planet Cybertron I felt the connection. The Voice that had once been dormant in my processors came back to life, like being given energon after having suffered a famine. Our lines are still in place and they are still connected to him. Do not doubt that."_

As if lifting a dark cloud, the room began to relax as the fear in many of them began dissolving into a warm acceptance. They didn't need to fear the strings that had them chained to their Creator anymore. They had the Voice to guide them now within their midst. Now all they needed was to stay together and work together as one so that they'd be able to continue forward.

"_We will make it through the ordeals that await us everybody. You'll see. Skyshifter is going to save us. Of that I am 100% certain." _High Wire told the rest confidently, already feeling lighter now that the feeling s of sourness and rust had turned into the soft sensation of hope.


End file.
